Back To Basics (Fixed)
by marioluigifan05
Summary: Ash reunites with Brock and Misty, and the Indigo league reopens. He will have to go through many obstacles, both old and new. (Reuploaded, this time it doesn't break the rules.)
1. Chapter 1

Note: This will be in TV format. Also, Gen 6 Spoilers!

Note 2: People have been asking how they got from Pewter City to Cerulean City, and I only have this to say: Anime Physics. :P

Note 3: Brock as a doctor graduate will be able to communicate with Pokemon. This isn't real canon, just headcanon.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~ - This is my line break, BTW

(Theme)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

The words "Going Back To Basics!" appeared on a title card, which Ash read.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A boy of about fifteen years old was in his room with his starter Pokemon, Pikachu. He hadn't been out for days. Ever since he lost the Unova League to Virgil, he had been really depressed. How could he have lost? In every league, he had some so close, but someone took victory from his grasp. In Kanto, it was Richie (he could have won it all, if only Charizard didn't fall asleep!). In Johto, it was Harrison (at least it wasn't Gary, the jerk he was back then!), in Hoenn, it was Tyson (he hated Meowth even more now!), in Sinnoh, Tobias (the cheater! Why was he allowed to have legendaries?), and now in Unova, the region he just came from, it was Virgil, a huge fan of Eevee and its evolutions. He didn't understand how he went from taking on two legendaries to losing to a team of Eevee evolutions.

One thing was certain: He and Pikachu had grown to really hate the Eevee line, even moreso than Meowth back when Tyson beat him. It was bad enough when Gary's Eevee beat him, but this was terrible.

He replayed the events of his league matches in his mind, but he just didn't see what he could have done better.

"Ash, are you still moping?" a voice called out. That could only be his mom. His thoughts were proven true when she opened the door, though she wasn't alone. Next to her were Tracey and Professor Oak.

"Tracey! Professor Oak! Mom!" he said, forcing a smile.

"Ash, you have to go out _now_," said Professor Oak sternly. "There's no use dwelling on the past."

"The Indigo League is reopening soon. Why don't you sign up?" Tracey asked.

Ash perked up for a moment. This was his chance to redeem himself. He thought of entering, but then memories of the final battle with Virgil came to him. Should he reenter? What would happen? Would he even make it past Top 16? His loss kept flashing through his mind. With a combo of Toxic and Thunder Wave from Jolteon, as well as Mean Look, Sand Attack, Swagger and Curse from Umbreon, a mysterious Pokemon (that was presumably another Eeveelution) had beaten his weakened, confused, poisoned and paralyzed Pikachu so badly (he didn't even think it was possible for a Pokemon to have so many status conditions!). He didn't even know what type the mystery Pokemon was. In fact, he couldn't even scan it on his Pokedex. Maybe he just needed to train harder, or he could accept that he wouldn't be a Pokemon Master. "I-I might sit this one out."

"Ash, this is not like you!" his mom scolded. "You did a great job! Why not reapply? You might even win next time!"

With no comeback, Ash forced himself to leave the house with Pikachu. He trudged from Pallet Town all the way to Pewter City, not really paying attention to any of the wild Pokemon. He went to the Pokemon Center to sign up for the tournament, and as he went out, he was surprised to see a familiar black-haired man: It was Brock!

"Hey, Brock!" he shouted, his depression leaving him for a while.

Brock turned around to see him. "Ash! You're here!" They both high-fived.

"I thought you were a doctor," Ash said, still surprised.

"I graduated." the black man replied.

"Already?!" Ash asked, astonished. Brock nodded and showed off his diploma. "In only a year? Awesome!" Ash then muttered, "At least someone reached the top..."

Brock heard him and said, "You tried your best, we're all still proud of ya, win or lose. Now follow me."

_10 minutes later_

They had arrived at Cerulean City, and headed to the gym. Misty's Staryu had just taken down her opponent's Leafeon with a Rapid Spin attack.

"YES!" cheered Ash. Brock looked at him oddly. The guy who had just got defeated by Misty recalled his Leafeon and left the gym. Misty saw her friends, and they all broke into a hug. They then talked a bit about Ash's Unova journey, and what the other two did while he was at Unova.

"Misty, can you travel with us?" Brock asked, and Misty told him that she could take a break, since her sisters were perfectly capable of running the gym themselves now. The three of them left and saw a limousine pull over. It looked familiar, but they ignored it at first, until a familiar spiky-haired brunette boy rolled down the window. Ash was confused. Didn't he get rid of it ages ago, or whatever happened? Why were there cheerleaders around him? And what was with that smirk on his face? Brock and Misty seemed pretty confused, too.

"Hey, Ashy-boy!" he snickered. "So ya lost the Unova League, huh?"

Instead of getting sad, like Gary probably expected of him, Ash got angry. His former rival (probably non-formal rival in a few minutes) was a douche again.

"Like you would have done any better!" Ash retorted angrily. "You're a researcher!"

"Yeah, but I decided to take a break for a while! When you're done moping around, I'm gonna cream you in the league, and that goes for anyone else who stands in my way!" Gary said snottily. "When you make a fresh start and get over yourself, I'll be waiting!"

"GARY, GARY, HE'S THE BEST, IF HE CAN'T DO IT, NOBODY CAN!" his cheerleaders shouted. Ash was about to retort back, when-

"Smell ya later, loser!" Gary shouted, breaking his train of thought and driving away slowly. It seemed almost deliberate. Ash merely stared at the back of the vehicle, and he noticed the tag on the back said a familiar phrase...

_Gary was here. Ash is a loser!_

"NOT AGAIN!" fumed Ash. Gary always knew what got to him. "THAT GARY! I'LL SHOW HIM!" He shouted, storming off. His words kept ringing into his mind, along with that phrase that should have died years ago.

_"Hey, Ashy-boy!"_

_"So ya lost the Unova League, huh?"_

_"Not anymore, I decided to start fresh - start fresh - start fresh..."_

All of a sudden, it hit him. He now realized why he always lost in every league after Johto: He was starting fresh! That meant his older Pokemon got rusty, and got little training. Professor Oak trained them, sure, but he wasn't their trainer. Who knew how rusty they were now...especially Muk and Kingler. Sure, he beat the Battle Frontier, but that wasn't an official league, and he hadn't made a fresh start anyway. Charizard, Sceptile, and a few others were lucky to be constantly training, but the same couldn't be said for the others. That's when he realized that he wouldn't have made it nearly as far as he did without the help of all his Pokemon (and his friends as well).

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Now in the Pokemon Center, Ash was contacting Professor Oak. Brock was busy with Forrest on another videophone, so he didn't flirt with Nurse Joy. Ash had him call over Kingler, Muk, Bayleef, Unfezant, and Glalie.

"This is a surprise! I knew Gary could get you to call over some of your old friends! They all missed you!" Professor Oak said.

"I missed them too - wait, YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS?!" Ash demanded.

"Guess he overdid it a little, huh?" Professor Oak chuckled and disconnected. At the same time, Brock was finished, so the three met up again.

"Gary sure has his weird methods of helping, huh?" Misty commented.

"Why didn't Gary just TELL me?" Ash wondered.

"If I can guess, it's because just confronting you about it would cause tension, and you two would be arguing about different training styles." Brock answered. "So he did it the only way he could: by riling you up and kicking you out of your depression." Just as Brock finished the sentence, they all exited the Pokemon Center.

"And from the looks of things, it worked, too." he concluded.

Ash said, "Yup, and he's gonna regret it, too, after I cream him!" He looked even more confident than ever before. "Next stop: Pallet Town!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(PokeRap with Kanto-Unova Pokemon)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

~~~POKEMON!~~~

CREDITS

Pokemon: Back to Basics

Creator: marioluigifan05

Theme Song: Jason Paige

4Kids Entertainment

Voices

Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor

Brock: Eric Stuart

Professor Oak: Stan Hart

Tracey: Ted Lewis

Misty: Rachael Lillis

Pikachu: Ikue Otani


	2. Chapter 2

**(Theme Song (season 1) goes here.)**

* * *

**The words "Calling Back Some Old Friends" appeared on a title card, which Ash read.**

* * *

Now in Pallet Town, Ash, Misty and Brock talked to Tracey for a while. Ash hadn't noticed until now, but Brock and Misty were wearing the outfits he first saw them in. He also remembered that Gary was wearing his old outfit as well. Ash excused himself and went back to his house. A few minutes later, he came back out, this time with his League hat and old clothes (which surprisingly still fit him). He then came back out and went back to his friends.

Misty smiled. "I was wondering when you'd change back!"

Ash grinned back at her, and the trio waved Tracey off.

_Viridian Forest_

Meanwhile, Ash, Misty and Brock found themselves facing an old friend: Samurai. After a few minutes of conversation, Ash challenged him to a battle, which he accepted. Each of them held out a Pokeball.

"This battle will be 4-on-4! Substitutions allowed! Begin!" announced Brock.

"Go, Butterfree/Muk, I choose you!" Samurai/Ash shouted.

Glob of poison faced off against butterfly. Ash looked at Butterfree longingly for a while, but then shrugged it off. Samurai decided to give Ash the first move. Ash commanded a Sludge Bomb. Muk aimed globs of poison at Butterfree, who dodged them all easily. It then beat its wings rapidly, and Muk was suddenly forced into its ball and replaced with Unfezant.

"I've never seen that Pokemon before...regardless, Butterfree will smash it!" Samurai boasted. "Butterfree, Stun Spore!"

"Unfezant, just like we practiced!" Ash called. Unfezant rapidly beat her wings and suddenly white streaks of wind appeared behind her. She then blew the spores away and sent them back at her opponent, stunning it.

"NO!" cried Samurai, as Unfezant went in for an Aerial Ace. It took out Butterfree in one hit.

"Butterfree can't battle, the winner is Unfezant!" Brock began. Samurai recalled Butterfree and sent out Beedrill. Unfezant merely squawked at it, showing no fear. The same couldn't be said for Misty, who hid behind Brock.

"Beedrill, Twineedle!" Samurai shouted. Without a command, Unfezant sent red rings at it, causing it to fall asleep.

"Great job, Unfezant! Go, Kingler!" he shouted, sending out his first crab Pokemon. Samurai desperately pleaded at his Pokemon, while Kingler just kept bombarding it with Bubblebeam after Bubblebeam. Eventually, Beedrill went down. After another announcement from Brock, Samurai sent out a Parasect, while Ash replaced his Kingler with Muk again. Brock signaled for them to begin.

"Parasect, use Aerial Ace!" its trainer commanded. Parasect disappeared for a split second, before reappearing behind Muk. Ash quickly ordered an Acid Armor attack, and Muk hardened its body a little. When Parasect slashed it, its appendage got stuck to its globby body. Muk squeezed its opponent to the floor for a while, before finally getting up. Parasect was down.

"Parasect can't battle, Muk wins!" shouted Brock.

Samurai sent out his last Pokemon: Pinsir. Muk was replaced with Bayleef. Bayleef tackled Ash to the ground.

"I'm glad to see you too, but we have a battle!" Ash told her. Bayleef got off of him and faced Pinsir and Samurai. Samurai ordered a Stone Edge. Stones formed around his Pokemon and launched at Bayleef, who used her vines to defend herself. Pinsir's next move was Close Combat. When it got close to Bayleef, she wrapped her vines around Pinsir's limbs and horn, rendering him immobile. She then opened her mouth and unleashed a green ball at Pinsir, knocking it out.

"Pinsir can't battle! Since Samurai lost all of his Pokemon, the winners are Ash and Bayleef from Pallet Town!" shouted Brock. Ash and Bayleef were celebrating, while Samurai recalled his Pokemon. After a brief conversation, Ash went deeper into the forest. It looked like he had gotten all of them lost until a familiar cry filled their ears. They looked up, and sure enough, Ash's old Pidgeot was flying above them. Ash was elated.

"Pidgeot!" he cried. "It's you!" Suddenly, he felt guilty for having not visited him in years. "I-I'm so sorry I didn't come back sooner." Pidgeot landed next to him and softly chirped, as if to say he forgave him. Brock and Misty looked on in awe.

_30 Minutes Later_

They had just arrived in Vermilion City, where Samurai said a minor triple battle tournament was being hosted. This would be good practice for the main one coming up in a week. The trio approached a man who was hosting it.

"You're just in time." the man said. "Just sign your names right here on this slip." They did as they were told.

_7 Easy Matches Later_

Ash, Misty, and Brock were in the finals against a trio they knew all too well...and it wasn't Team Rocket in disguise. One was lean with blue hair, the other had spiky maroon hair, and the last one was fat with a bowl cut. They all wore karate suits that were purple.

"I-I thought they were banned from all official Pokemon tournaments!" Ash cried.

"This is a minor tournament, so I guess even they're allowed." Brock answered, as Ash made a few rotations with his Pokedex.

Before Misty could add anything, the announcer cut in with: "Next up: The Invincible (Ash, Misty and Brock made quote fingers as he said the word) Pokemon Brothers: Kail, Kim, and Kai vs...Ash, Brock and Misty!" The six of them took their positions on each side. Ash noticed Misty and Brock staring at their Poke Balls intently.

"Now's a good time, don't ya think?" Misty asked, as their opponents sent out Hitmonlee (Kail), Hitmonchan (Kim), and Hitmontop (Kai).

"Yup." Brock answered. "Go, Fennekin!" A cute, fuzzy orange fox with even fuzzier ears emerged from Brock's ball. Everyone was surprised, including the referee. Many people, including Ash, tried to scan it, but: "NO DATA FOUND."

Next, Misty sent out a blue quadrupedal frog with white fuzz around its neck. Just like before: "NO DATA FOUND."

Ash felt left out that he didn't have a mysterious Pokemon, but thought little of it. "Snivy, I choose you!" He sent out his Unova starter, who landed next to the frog (who Misty called Froakie), who was between Snivy and Fennekin.

Shaking off his confusion, the referee began the match.

(Chapter Quiz: Trainers, which one of these Pokemon is NOT a starter from the Unova region? The choices are: Totodile, Tepig, Snivy. The answer to be revealed in the next chapter...Okay, so this was piss-easy, but at least it's not "Arbok evolves into Seviper" :P)

"Hitmonchan, use Bullet Punch!" commanded its trainer, pointing at the snake. Its fists glowed silver as it dashed towards Snivy.

"Dodge it!" shouted Ash, as Snivy smacked its vines to the ground to jump, not unlike his Bulbasaur. "Now, grab em!" Kim got his Pokemon to jump back, before he realized that the Vine Whip was meant for Hitmonlee's legs. Thanks to that, Froakie could finally get a Bubblebeam attack in. To try to close the distance, Hitmonchan went in for a Mach Punch, but Fennekin dashed towards it and rammed into it, sending it back a little. Froakie used Protect to avoid a Close Combat from Hitmontop. Snivy was finally forced to let go when Hitmonlee's foot cloaked in flames and burned Snivy.

"Snivy, Leaf Storm!" shouted Ash. His Snivy spun around and unleashed a bunch of leaves at her opponents. They tried their best to avoid them, but they got hit by most of them anyway.

"Fennekin, Flame Burst!" shouted Brock, as Fennekin formed a ball of fire that became many flame streaks. They all scorched the leaves that landed on the ground as a result of Leaf Storm. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee (along with everyone else at close range) covered their noses because of the awful singed smell. Even Hitmontop had to stop spinning because of how bad it smelled.

"Brine!" shouted Misty, as Froakie opened its mouth and spat water needles at all of them, taking them down. The "Invincible" Pokemon Brothers shouted at their Pokemon to get up, but it was no use, so the referee called their defeat. They didn't take it well, as each of them sent out Sawk, Throh, and Conkelder.

"Hey, that's not fair!" the referee shouted. "You already lost!"

Kai ignored him and commanded a Stone Edge. The stones were all aimed at Fennekin, who weaved around them with Quick Attack. The next set of stones, oddly enough, missed Fennekin completely. Snivy and Froakie were distreacted by Sawk and Throh, who forced them to avoid their attacks. When Fennekin saw who the stones were aimed at, she rushed towards Brock and tackled him into the ground, just barely managing to avoid them. This did not go unnoticed by anyone.

"Hey! Who do you think you are!?" Ash shouted, as a stray stone hit the fox Pokemon.

"We play to win, don't like it? Too bad." Kail said.

Ash and Misty were both angry as Brock got up. "You'll pay!" Misty shouted. "Froakie, use Double Team!" Her Pokemon made many copies of itself, then did a Bubblebeam in the air, making it that much harder for anyone to even detect the real one (thanks to the bubble reflections). None of their opponents could hit anyone. Ash was coming up with a strategy of his own, before he flashed back to a battle between Trip and Bianca, two of his Unova rivals. Emboar took Conkelder's stone pillars and thrust them back at it, taking it down. Brock seemed to have formulated a plan, too.

"Flash!" shouted Brock, as his Pokemon's tail turned bright and blinded Sawk and Throh, whose latest plan involved ganging up on Fennekin 2-on-1. It completely backfired on them, however. Conkelder was on its own as Ash's Snivy used Attract on him. Snivy seduced him into giving up his pillars, before she hoisted them up in the air with her vines. They fell and toppled on the Pokemon, rendering him unable to battle.

"Wow, not only did they cheat many times, but they're still losing." a spectator said, as Froakie and Fennekin used Hydro Pump and Flamethrower on the remaining two opponents, securing them the victory.

"Despite cheating, the Invincible Pokemon Brothers are unable to battle, the clear winners are Ash, Misty and Brock! That means they win the grand prize!" Everyone cheered as they went up to get all of the money they had earned. The brothers broke down in front of everyone as Officer Jenny arrested them. They then congratulated their Pokemon on a job well done as they recalled them.

"So, what are we going to do with all this money?" Ash asked.

"Shopping! What else?" Misty cried, as she somehow dragged Ash, Brock, Pikachu and Azurill through a forest.

"You had to ask, didn't you?" Brock muttered.

"Winning's never felt so unrewarding..." Ash said, dazed. From behind a tree, a spiky Pokemon was watching them, laughing to itself...

* * *

**CREDITS**

**Back to Basics**

**Creator: marioluigifan05**

**Theme Song: Jason Paige  
**

**4Kids Entertainment  
**

**Voices**

**Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor**

**Brock: Eric Stuart**

**Professor Oak: Stan Hart**

**Tracey: Ted Lewis**

**Misty: Rachael Lillis**

**Pikachu: Ikue Otani**

**Samurai: Jimmy Zoppi  
**

**Kim: Sean Schemmel**

**Kai: Greg Abbey**

**Kail: Marc Thompson**


	3. Chapter 3

**I took out the trainer's choice from the last chapter. Also, if you see "/\|/\", it means the music playing ended.**

* * *

**(Theme Song (season 1) goes here.)**

* * *

**The words "Chespin Checkmates" appeared on a title card, which Ash read.**

* * *

[Pokemon Anime Sound Collection: The Johto Journey Begins]

_Two _hours after Misty dragged them clothes shopping, Ash and co. found themselves back at the forest, where Brock prepared some Pokemon food for them. Ash sent out Pidgeot, Snivy, Palpitoad, Glalie, and Quilava. Misty's Pokemon were Froakie, Psyduck, Azurill, Corsola, Politoed, and Horsea. Brock released these Pokemon: Fennekin, Steelix, Ludicolo, Crobat, Geodude, and Marshtomp. Politoed cheered Brock on as he stirred the stew, while Psyduck just watched. Pidgeot took the time to intruduce himself to the others, Snivy turned away from everyone, and Palpitoad stared at the pot. As for Brock's Pokemon, most of them just stood there, except for Crobat and Fennekin, who assumed a guarding position in front of him.

Several minutes later, Brock was serving everyone the food. Ash was the first to get served, so by the time Brock finished passing it around, Ash had already went for a second plate. Misty scolded him for being a slob, to which he responded, "Hey, I'm a growing boy!" While Ash and Misty were distracted, a small figure had taken Palpitoad's food. They turned around, but all they saw were blurry spikes. Ash assumed that it was a Pokemon, and got ready to scan it, when he got blasted in the face by Hydro Pump. Ash turned to Palpitoad, who was yelling at him and pointing towards some bushes.

"I could have got him a new bowl..." Brock muttered, as Ash and Palpitoad ran off. Pikachu followed them shortly after.

[Pokemon Anime Sound Collection: Scramble]

The snickering light green figure (which was, indeed, a Pokemon) ran off, with Ash and Palpitoad on its tail (bad pun). Ash was beginning to wish he hadn't left his Pokemon behind. If only Pidgeot followed him.

"Palpitoad, use Sludge Wave!" the boy yelled out. A huge ball of dark purple sludge formed around the Water/Ground Pokemon, before shooting at the mysterious Pokemon. It nimbly leaped to a tree branch, avoiding the attack. It then jumped from branch to branch, not unlike Sceptile (amazingly, it did this all with the bowl still in its hands). They still couldn't catch up with him while running, so Palpitoad let its tongue hang out and aimed multiple balls of mud skyward. They didn't seem to be aiming anywhere in particular. The Pokemon kept leaping from branch to branch, until it slipped on one that was covered in mud. As the Pokemon was falling downward, Palpitoad used its long tongue to catch the food and place it down next to him.

Ash could now make out its features as it was descending, though he still wouldn't have been able to reach it on time to save it.. It was tan with white toenails, brown arms and what looked like brown markings on its face, and an orange nose matching its tail tip. The Pokemon was trying to suppress its screams, but Ash could still see its chattering buck teeth. It looked like a Grass/Ground type, so Ash concluded that it could take at least one water attack.

"Great job, Palpitoad! Now use Hydro Pump to break its fall!" he told Palpitoad. Palpitoad stared at him like he was crazy, but forcibly let loose a huge stream of water for the Pokemon to land on. Palpitoad slowly tilted its head down so that its opponent could slowly land on solid ground. With the two Pokemon staring at each other seemingly calmly, Ash took the time to try and scan it, but no data was found. By the time Ash had put the Pokedex aside, Pikachu had arrived to the scene to see Palpitoad and the unknown Pokemon staring down at each other.

[Pokemon Anime Sound Collection: Johto Wild Battle Music]

"Palpitoad, use Hyper Voice!" called Ash, as Palpitoad let loose loud supersonic waves from his mouth. Its opponent was disoriented from the attack as it covered its ears. It didn't hear Ash's next command, and when the Hyper Voice ended, Palpitoad was gone. It looked around for a few moments, before looking up to see Palpitoad descending on it. It looked like it would land on it, but then the wild Pokemon created multiple copies of itself, and the toad-like Pokemon landed on a mirage that merely disappeared.

The real one came from behind a tree and scratched Palpitoad from behind, before sending out a flurry of leaves, all doing super-effective damage on him. He tried to stand his ground, but then fell over. The wild Pokemon got ready to release another Leaf Tornado, but Palpitoad opened its mouth, this time to release an icy wind from it. (Note: they do their training off screen. I don't really want to devote the story to training if it doesn't advance the plot, it's boring.)

The counterattack froze the leaves, which dropped heavily on the ground. Palpitoad's opponent approached him once again as Ash commanded a Supersonic. Palpitoad let out a shrill scream as the spiky Pokemon covered its ears, just as Ash planned. Because its hands were up, it was left defenseless to the ice shards that the Supersonic attack gathered from the ground and thrust at it. They all hit the Pokemon and damaged it badly. It fell to the ground, covered in wounds and scratches. Ash turned his hat around, and cried, "All right!" in delight. He took out a Poke Ball. "Poke Ball, go!" The capsule opened up and landed on the ground. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he stared at the slightly moving ball, gritting his teeth.

/\|/\

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

The ball opened up and out came the wounded Pokemon! Before either Ash or Palpitoad moved, it started glowing.

[Pokemon Anime Sound Collection - Raid!]

"It's using Synthesis! Palpitoad, use Supersonic one more time!" Ash's Pokemon released its attack before the creature could even cover its ears. It hit itself a few times in confusion before a bitter berry fell out of its 'hat' and into its mouth. It somehow managed to chew it and compose itself.

"Icy Wind again, then Supersonic!" Palpitoad once again breathed a frosty wind from its mouth, which the bitter berry eater jumped over. It caused the entire area under it to be frozen. Ash hid his eyes under his hat as the temperature suddenly and abruptly rose and the ice area that Palpitoad froze became a huge puddle, providing a safe landing for the 'hat' wearer. While Ash was distracted, a ball of light in the spiked Pokemon's mouth formed into a beam and aimed at Palpitoad.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu yelled out, as Palpitoad instinctively tried to overpower it with Hydro Pump. With the sun glaring so brightly, Hydro Pump was weaker than it usually was. The Solar Beam easily overpowered the water type attack and hit the Water/Ground type, turning it into a cloud of smoke. Even Ash and Pikachu looked confused at first, but then they saw Palpitoad sneakingly creeping up behing the thief. It was sucking in all of the water under them, which confused the green-clad Pokemon at first. Ash and Pikachu smiled to themselves as the unknown Pokemon looked up to see the second stage Pokemon fully inflated and towering over it. Palpitoad then unleahed a huge tidal wave from its mouth, sending its opponent washing away towards a tree as it deflated. By the time Palpitoad was back to normal size, everyone was soaking wet, including Ash and Pikachu, who shook it off. The wild Pokemon wasn't moved, so Ash decided that now was the time to try and catch it again, but first...

/\|/\

"Palpitoad, you learned Substitute and Surf! Awesome!" he praised the once-inflated Pokemon, taking out a Poke Ball. "And now..." He jumped into the air, and threw it. "Poke Ball, go!" Once again, everything seemed to go in slow motion as the orb sucked in the unlucky thief. It shook, once, then another time, then thrice, then it stood still with a 'Ding' sound, with no movement afterwards.

[Pokemon Stadium 2 - Got a Rare Pokemon]

He then picked it up, and then yelled, "All right!" He spun around. "I caught...a - " He stopped himself when he not only realized he didn't even know the Pokemon's name, but the Poke Ball disappeared from his hand, too. Just then, Brock and Misty arrived at the scene, Brock giving him back his Poke Balls. He quickly realized that his party was full (he would have to show it to Professor Oak later on).

"What happened?" Misty asked, and Ash explained it all to her.

"So Palpitoad learned two new moves to help you catch a Pokemon." Brock mused. "That's new."

"I couldn't have done it without him!" Ash cried, rushing to Palpitoad to hug him.

"Ash, DON'T!" Brock and Misty shouted, as he hugged Palpitoad...who was many times bigger than him for some reason. "Palpitoad, how did you get so...uh-oh." Palpitoad deflated as it spat a huge geyser of water at him and sent him crashing on a tree, not unlike what he did to his earlier opponent. The others merely stared.

/\|/\

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

[Pokemon Anime Sound Collection - Pokemon Center]

After healing his Pokemon, Ash was on the videophone with Professor Oak. After he had explained the situation to the old man, Professor Oak took a deep breath, and then beckoned over to someone from his right. A girl appeared on the screen. She had long, wavy blonde hair, a pink dress and hat with glasses around it, a sleeveless black blouse, as well as matching stockings, wristbands and flats.

"Hello!" she said, waving at all of them. They all waved back at her.

"Ash, Misty, Brock, this is Yvonne Yvette." Professor Oak introduced.

"Yvonne for short." the blonde said, before addressing Ash. "This old geezer says you've caught a 'mysterious' Pokemon." Professor Oak headed away from the screen as the girl held out a Poke Ball. A huge glob of poison followed him. She opened it, and out came the presumed Grass/Ground type.

"You found Chespin, thanks so much!" Yvonne thanked Ash.

"Chespin?" Ash asked.

"Chespin is one of the starter Pokemon of my region, along with Fennekin and Froakie." the blonde explained.

"Froakie/Fennekin?" Misty/Brock chorused.

"I'm the Professor's assistant." she continued, not addressing them. "I was to have them delivered by hand to some new trainers, but the three of them escaped into a boat leading here."

"More like she lost them." Professor Oak said from the corner.

"Manners, Professor Oak." Yvonne chastised him, before doing a double take. "You've seen them?" Misty sent out Froakie, and Brock sent out Fennekin, who stared at him. The girl smiled in delight. "Where did you find them?"

"Chespin kind of found us." Ash said nervously, laughing a little. "He stole one of my Pokemon's food, and we had to get him, and that's how we caught him."

"Hey, if they're starter Pokemon, why is it that Ash was able to catch it with its own ball?" Professor Oak asked, coming to the screen. Yvonne laughed nervously, before adjusting the glasses on her hat. "Details, details. How about you, Misty?" Just then, the poison glob hugged her and pinned her to the ground. "Professor Oak! Restrain that Muk - mmf!"

Ash laughed as he and Muk greeted each other.

"My Azurill found Froakie, and they became inseparable. I didn't want to deprive Azurill of a new playmate, so I just caught it." Misty explained.

"And you?" Yvonne pointed to Brock.

"Just before I graduated, someone took in this Pokemon. It was injured very badly, so I treated it. Afterwards, I tried to release it back, but it became so attached to me that I couldn't help but catch it." Brock said.

"That was sweet of you two. Wish I could say the same for Ketchum." the blonde teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash complained.

The blonde's personality did a complete 360 and she turned nice once again. "Fennekin's always gotten into trouble. Anyway, you have to return them to me so I can bring them to the rookie trainers."

"Technically, Ash is a rookie trainer." Misty muttered.

"Hey!" he yelled out, turning to her. The new fire starter hid behind Brock, tugging on his pant leg.

"What's wrong?" Yvonne asked.

"I think Fennekin would rather stay with Brock." Professor Oak said happily.

"Really?" she asked, genuinely confused, but then she shook it off. "I guess it was to be expected. What about you, Froakie?" Froakie nodded slowly. She then turned to the smirking Chespin. "How about you?" The Chespin merely pointed at Ash.

"Well...if you three really want to stay with them, I can't stop you, I guess." Yvonne said solemnly.

"So what are you gonna do now?" asked Brock, as Ash sent in Snivy for Chespin.

Yvonne thought to herself. "I'm going to investigate some legendary Pokemon. Well, I gotta run, those Pokemon won't study themselves. See ya!"

"Wait!" Professor Oak yelled, as Yvonne disconnected.

/\|/\

[Pokemon Anime Sound Collection - A Meeting And Parting]

At night, Ash, Misty and Brock sent out the trio of Fennekin, Chespin, and Froakie. Pikachu and Azurill introduced themselves to them.

"Where should we go next?" asked Misty.

"Wherever the path takes us." Ash answered simply.

"And knowing you, it involves getting lost," Misty muttered, recalling Froakie. Chespin got recalled too.

"At least I can see myself." Ash muttered, as Brock tried to recall his newest Pokemon. It avoided the red beam that Brock pointed at it.

"Brock, I think maybe you should carry it around." Misty suggested.

"Would you like that?" Brock asked, carrying it.

"Fen!" it cried, perching itself onto his shoulder, not unlike Ash's Pikachu.

"I guess we're all settled, so let's go!" Ash said, walking ahead of Misty and Brock.

"I'll be looking forward to getting lost many times." Brock whispered to Misty. Fennekin whispered something similar to Azurill.

* * *

**CREDITS**

**Back to Basics**

**Creator: marioluigifan05**

**Theme Song: Jason Paige**

**4Kids Entertainment**

**Voices**

**Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor**

**Brock: Eric Stuart**

**Professor Oak: Stan Hart**

**Tracey: Ted Lewis**

**Misty: Rachael Lillis**

**Pikachu: Ikue Otani**

**Yvonne: Rachael Lillis**


	4. Chapter 4

(Theme)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"Snivy's Tale To The N" (Note: This is partly a filler chapter)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Misty, Ash, and Brock were in their sleeping bags, fast asleep. Pikachu and Azurill were asleep next to their trainers, but Fennekin was curled next to Brock, still asleep. Crobat was on the man's head, watching the Fire-type intently. Bayleef was right behind Ash, pretending to sleep. The two stared at each other for a few minutes, before Psyduck appeared from Misty's bag.

"Psy!" it cried, clutching its head, as Oshawott came out at that exact moment and shushed him, pointing at the sleepers. Oshawott went away from them, while Psyduck approached Bayleef, tapping it.

"Bay! BAY!" she cried, a bit too loudly. She noticed Ash tossing and turning and grabbed Psyduck with a vine in urgency. At one point, Psyduck was swung into Ash's bag, and then dragged out again. They ran towards Oshawott, with Fennekin following close behind.

"Mom? What did you say?" Ash asked groggily, before heading back to sleep.

"Pika Pika?" Pikachu asked, approaching Fennekin, who pointed towards the direction the other Pokemon ran. The two followed along, with Snivy (who was released from her Poke Ball in Ash's bag by accident) also with them. They finally stopped in front of a lake.

"Oshawott..." the Water type sighed in relief. Psyduck stepped into the water, only to end up jumping out of the lake. Most of them couldn't believe he couldn't swim, since he was a Water-type. Snivy didn't seem to care all that much, staring into the lake. Brock's Fire type slowly approached the snake. "Fenn?" she questioned.

"Snivy." she responded, saying nothing was wrong.

The fire fox didn't really buy it, but decided not to press the matter anymore. She felt a tap on the shoulder, and turned around to see Pikachu.

"Pikachu, Pika?" He was asking if she liked Brock. The really furry Pokemon denied this claim. Oshawott, Bayleef and Snivy started to giggle, while Psyduck still looked confused. Soon, though, Snivy's laughter died down, and she continued staring into the lake.

"Oshawott?" Oshawott asked the grass snake, who hissed at him. "Oshawott, Osha." He asked if she was still thinking about her old trainer.

"Sni, Sni!" she shouted at him, saying she wasn't.

"Fenn?" the fox questioned. Oshawott told her about Snivy's life, but didn't finish before he was slapped with a vine. Soon enough, everyone wanted to know about her former life, so Snivy sighed. She had no choice but to tell them...

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

_A charred Snivy was running from flame-coated Darmanitan and Darumaka. She had no way of fighting them off. Her only moves were Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado, and Coil. Her most useful move in this situation would be Coil, but even with the attack and defense boosts, she couldn't damage them enough, or withstand their fire attacks. Her only advantage against them was speed, but that advantage was slowly disappearing as the fire types got faster and faster. Eventually, they got fast enough to surround her. It looked like she was finished, until a Pokeball flew her way. It looked like it was headed for the Darmanitan, but it landed on the wild Snivy. She didn't want to be captured, but it was preferable to being prey to the Darumaka family._

_She had no idea what became of them, but a few days later, she found herself__ in front of a rock, trying to slam into it with her tail. Behind her was a pudgy kid with green hair, a black jacket that was zipped up, and green pants: the same one who saved her back then. But if she thought he would be nice, she had another thing coming..._

_"I said 'Use Leaf Blade', not Tail Whip!" he shouted, as Snivy failed to even dent the rock once again. He never even taught her the move, just expected her to know it already. About twenty failed Leaf Blades later, the trainer decided to let it go. But she had a feeling she wasn't off the hook..._

_~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~_

_"Snivy, use Coil, followed by Wrap!"_

_"Panpour, just wait there." Cress, the Water type gym leader was surprisingly calm, while Snivy's trainer was loud and boastful._

_Snivy coiled itself to raise its defense, attack, and accuracy. Then it uncurled and slithered towards the water monkey. It wrapped itself around its opponent, thinking it had it in the bag, until..._

_"Ice Beam." A look of horror was on Snivy's face as she realized it was a trap! Panpour opened its mouth and released a beam of ice at her, freezing it. Her trainer was yelling at her, but she still didn't unfreeze, so the referee called it Cress's match. After that, she was sent back out by her trainer. Not even bothering to take it to the Pokemon Center to heal it, she was released on the spot where she first got captured, still frozen. Her former trainer called her every name in the book before leaving her behind. She was eventually defrosted when a robed man approached her. She didn't have her hopes so high up; after all, her former trainer also saved her, probably unintentionally._

_He took her in his arms, bringing her into a castle, where she was eventually treated. She was then introduced to N, his son. He couldn't be more than ten. He had long tea green hair, cute gray eyes, a baseball hat, a loose white shirt, and tan pants. He wore no shoes. Snivy slowly approached the boy._

_"Come on in, I don't bite." N smiled at her adorably. He had the softest, cutest voice. She tried to look away from him, but couldn't. A Zorua appeared from behind him and licked the grass snake. Snivy decided to relax, and found herself at home with not only N and Zorua, but Darmanitan and Woobat. They were all happy being with him. N turned out to be the exact opposite of her former trainer. He was nice, innocent, caring, and to top it all off, he could communicate with Pokemon! Together, the five of them were a happy family (well, six, but his father wasn't around much). He also didn't force them to battle if he didn't want to; in fact, he didn't like battles! Everyone was treated equally, no one was treated better than the other._

_Nothing could go wrong, until...she fell in love. One would have thought that she'd fallen in love with one of the Pokemon, but no...it was N._

_She had started to distance herself from N little by little. Not so much that he worried about her, but just enough so that he didn't suspect anything. She wondered what to do about her dilemma, until she overheard Ghetsis (the name of N's father, as she soon found out) talking to himself about Pokemon moves he could teach one of his Pokemon. Many of the ones he named were powerful attack moves, with a few status moves here and there. None of them really interested her (she couldn't learn most of them anyway), except for one. That's when Snivy got an idea..._

_For a few days, she had been learning a move where hearts materialized around her and hit the opponent (in this case, N, though he wasn't an 'opponent', exactly) to make him fall in love with the user (in this case, her). She had learned other moves naturally with experience, but she didn't really care about those right now. She had more or less mastered the move within that timeframe. One night, N took her outside and proclaimed his undying love for her under the stars. Before she could even say anything, she woke up from Zorua groaning. N went to comfort the Pokemon, who had had a nightmare. Snivy was disappointed that she was woken up, and also sad that it was a dream. But on the bright side, Attract didn't go to waste. She went back to sleep, this time without a dream._

_The next morning, Snivy woke up before anyone else. She couldn't wait to get N to like her! A few minutes later, he woke up._

_"Good morning." He yawned, before a flurry of hearts hit him. He rubbed his eyes for a few seconds, before staring at Snivy. He was completely lovestruck. Snivy smiled to herself as she wrapped him around her body with her vines. She then confessed her love to him. Darmanitan, Zorua, Woobat, AND Ghetsis could have been watching them, and she still wouldn't have cared, and she knew N wouldn't have either. They danced around for a few minutes, before N got on one knee._

_"I've been dying to tell you something. I..." N began. Snivy urged him not to be shy, before he shook his head a few times. N never finished his sentence, instead, he looked confused. It was almost like he was back to normal...and that's when the realization struck the grass snake: The effects of Attract were **temporary**! That meant that N never felt true love towards her. She was heartbroken...how could he lead her on like that? She knew it was mainly her fault, but still...why did that move have to be temporary? Ghetsis never mentioned that! Snivy lied to N through her teeth, telling him he was about to feed everyone. He brought it, and everything went as normal (mostly), until night, when she was asleep. She couldn't live like this, she had to get over him. So she did the one thing that came to mind: She left. She didn't even want to think about N, or how he would react: She knew he cared about her, even if he didn't love her. She never looked back._

_But even when Ash captured her years later, she still harbored feelings for N, trying to fill the void left in her heart. Ash was great, but he wasn't N. But he would do, she supposed..._

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

After Snivy's tale, they all felt sorry for her. Oshawott couldn't believe that N would lead her on. That was JUST like what Meloetta did with him and Piplup! Meloetta liked Ash, but got their hopes up. It made him so angry. Before anyone could say anything, a small tanned fox rushed towards them, bumping into Pikachu. Two people ran towards the Eevee: The blonde (who only Pikachu and Fennekin recognized) and a shorter brunette boy, who Pikachu (again) and Psyduck knew.

"There you are!" the blonde exclaimed, panting. "I knew I shouldn't have trained you in speed..." The brunette giggled as he took a picture of all of them. Somehow, Pikachu wasn't in it.

"Todd, you said you'd show me the legendaries you captured!" the girl pleaded.

"I said I'd get to them later." Todd answered, as the Pokemon all headed back, Eevee following them. "Hey, Pikachu and Psyduck seem familiar..."

"I don't know Psyduck, but I think that's the Fennekin I took care of before..." the blonde told him.

Their suspicions were confirmed as they followed the Pokemon and saw Ash, Brock, and Misty in sleeping bags.

"It is them." she gasped quietly, as she and Todd set up sleeping bags for themselves, and slept a few feet away from the trio. She was having trouble sleeping. She couldn't wait to see the legendary Pokemon that Todd captured. Her Eevee seemed to have as much trouble sleeping as she did, because it ran around her, and the sleeping Todd. Its trainer tried to recall it, but it dodged each and every blast. She finally managed to suck it in when a low growl from Crobat froze it in place. She relaxed for a few minutes, before falling asleep herself...

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

**CREDITS**

**Back to Basics**

**Creator: marioluigifan05**

**Theme Song: Jason Paige  
**

**4Kids Entertainment  
**

**Voices**

**Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor**

**Brock: Eric Stuart**

**Professor Oak: Stan Hart**

**Tracey: Ted Lewis**

**Misty: Rachael Lillis**

**Pikachu: Ikue Otani**

**Yvonne: Rachael Lillis**


	5. Chapter 5

(Theme)

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"Together Furret-er"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

That morning, Yvonne was immediately going to ask Todd to let her see what he caught, but her Eevee popped out of its ball instantly. At the same time, Ash's Oshawott did the same. Eevee ran around Oshawott, its tail nudging the Water type for each runaround. Misty stared at the scene in awe, while Todd took pictures of it. Brock was still asleep, with Crobat and Fennekin protecting him. No one noticed Pikachu subtly glaring at the Evolution Pokemon.

"Eevee, no playing until you're done with your training today!" its trainer chastised. Eevee groaned as she continued, "If you really want to play with Oshawott, fine, but at least do some training. Today, we'll build up your defenses."

"I've got an idea," Ash announced. "Why don't you have your Eevee battle my Pikachu? That way, everyone wins." Ash knew that Pikachu wanted to take on an Eevee just as badly as he did. But it wasn't to be, because Oshawott got in front of him.

"You wanna battle?" his trainer asked, and the Water Pokemon nodded. Ash looked at a disappointed Pikachu.

"You'll get your chance someday," he assured him, and Pikachu seemed to cheer up just a little.

The blonde seemed to like the idea, because the next few minutes saw her and Ash facing each other, with only Oshawott and Eevee between them. Eevee was hopping in place, while Oshawott just stared at it blankly. Yvonne seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Let's see...Sand Attack might work, but then what? Oshawott could just wash the sand away, which would give me enough time for an attack..." she was musing to herself. "I could use Quick Attack and follow it up, but he could easily counter. Neither of us have the type advantage. Why didn't he send out something with the advantage? It doesn't look like it knows a fighting move, so..."

Ash sighed. "This is taking forever. Oshawott, use Hydro Pump attack."

Oshawott opened its mouth and released a large, powerful stream of water at Eevee, sending it crashing into a tree.

"Umm...Eevee is unable to battle. The winners are Ash and Oshawott, from Pallet Town." Misty announced, but Eevee's immediate recovery said otherwise.

"False alarm," she corrected herself, confused. "The battle continues..."

"You won't beat us that easily," Yvonne told Ash. "Eevee, use Sand Tail."

"Sand Tail? What kind of move is that?" wondered Ash, as Eevee dashed towards Oshawott, quickly doing a 180 turn and kicking sand in the Water type's face with its hind leg. Ash smirked, he knew what to do. He commanded Oshawott to face upward and use Water Gun, which it did. As the water descended down on its face, it washed the sand out of its eyes. But they weren't off the hook yet; Eevee's tail had became encased in iron. It dug its paws on the ground as Ash frantically called on his Oshawott to block it. It successfully guarded Eevee's tail with its scalchop, but the item was sent flying.

Now Razor Shell was out of the question, which Ash was going to use next. Yvonne must have sensed the slight hesitance, because she yelled out, "Now that it can't use that shell, get in close with Work Down!"

Ash also didn't know that that was, he could only assume it was a stat lowering move, but why would she use that? As Eevee glowed a bright red, Ash requested a Water Gun attack. Eevee merely jumped over it and dived towards it. Ash would have used Counter Shield, but he never taught Oshawott that move. Instead, he asked for a simple Aqua Jet. Oshawott cloaked itself with water, intending to collide with Eevee's attack, when...

"Dodge that!" Ash called, and his Pokemon swerved under Eevee, who landed cleanly on the ground.

"You can't dodge forever! Hidden Power attack!" Eevee's trainer instructed, as light blue orbs of energy appeared around it. Ash was confused and annoyed, another combo move? The spheres eventually launched in every direction imaginable.

"Dodge as many as you can!" the male hat wearer commanded, as Oshawott tried to weave around the attack. The ones that missed Oshawott landed on a surface, encasing it in ice. So it wasn't a combo attack after all...

'Hidden Power Ice, huh?' Ash thought to himself, grinning at the girl in front of him. "Thanks, Yvonne!"

"You two can thank me by not running when you're about to lose!" she replied, as three orbs headed towards Oshawott.

"Oshawott, Aqua Jet again, and spin!" Ash clenched a fist in victory as Oshawott looked up at him in confusion. "Just trust me." the boy pleaded.

Deciding to face his fear with eyes wide open, he cloaked himself with water again and launched towards the attacks, while also spinning. Yvonne was shocked; she didn't know he had combo attacks too. But her surprise didn't end there; the three orbs covered the Aqua Jet, encasing it in ice, but Oshawott continued on, almost as if it wasn't frozen.

"Let's see how she likes 'Ice Aqua Jet'!" Ash screamed, as his adversary commanded a Last Resort attack. Eevee briefly encased itself in a white aura as it tackled the combination attack head-on. Thanks to Work _Up_ (as Ash found out was the stat modifying attack she actually used earlier), it was just as powerful as Oshawott's attack. But he had faith in Oshawott. The result was an explosion...of ice shards and stars. All of the spectators looked on in curiosity as everything cleared up. Oshawott and Eevee both had bruises and marks all over their bodies, but Oshawott seemed more exhausted, as it could just barely stand.

"Oshawott, you've got to pull through! I know you can!" Ash encouraged. The person who had a first and last name starting with the same letter just stared at her Eevee. Seconds later, Oshawott and Eevee both keeled over, much to the shock of everyone.

"B-Both are unable to battle," Misty announced, as Brock came to the scene groggily, wondering what happened. Todd filled him in on the details as Ash picked up his Oshawott.

"Thanks, Oshawott, you did great." he congratulated his Pokemon, as his Crobat flew from his head and handed Oshawott the scalchop. "Oh, that's where that went. Thanks, Crobat." Ash smiled up at the four-winged Pokemon as Oshawott put on the accessory.

Yvonne and Eevee came up to him. "Eevee, run along," the long-haired girl said, as Eevee and Oshawott went off to play with each other. She then put her full attention on Ash. Misty frowned at this for some odd reason.

"My Eevee fainted just a few mere moments _after_ your Pokemon. Just thought I'd fill you in," the sore loser told Ash. "If you don't catch my drift, I technically won." Ash and Oshawott frowned at her.

"Guys, why don't we just go to the Pokemon Center?" he cut in, calming everyone down. He could have healed them, of course, but he had just woken up.

_A Few Minutes Later..._

Everyone's Pokemon got healed by Nurse Joy, and...a tall brown and tan striped Pokemon wearing a white cap with a red plus symbol? Brock tried to come on to Joy, but Misty dragged him away.

"Excuse me, miss, your coworker is a...Furret?" Ash wanted to know.

The red-haired nurse sighed. "It's a long story..."

Yvonne took out a buttonless tablet-like device that had at least ten screens, all of which displayed something different. She tapped the one with the magnifying glass on it, and the contents of the screen became blank, with the outline of a camera around it. She held her tablet in front of the Furret. The tall Pokemon popped up on the screen, of course, but it was holding something else. At first glance, the item looked like an upside-down Pokeball, but she saw that it had a grin on its face, and two eyes.

It buzzed. _**"DOUBLE SCAN INITIATING."** _Todd stared at it jealously, wishing he had something like that.

_**"Furret, the Long Body Pokemon. There is no telling where the tail begins. Despite its short legs, it is quick at hunting Rattata...Electrode, the Ball Pokemon. It is dangerous.**_ (Yvonne laughed at that first sentence a little.) _**If it has too much electricity and has nothing to do, it amuses itself by exploding."**_ ("Oh, that's how," she mused, when it finished.) At that moment, Brock and Misty came back. Just when they arrived, Furret dropped the evolved form of Voltorb, and scampered off. Electrode quickly rolled towards it, catching up.

"They'll be back," Nurse Joy told them. And indeed, about ten minutes later, they did come back...with injured Rattata. Everyone seemed shocked (that is, except for Nurse Joy) as Furret scampered over to Nurse Joy with a tight frown. Nurse Joy sighed once again. "Where are they finding all of these injured Rattata?"

"What was that?" Misty questioned her, immediately.

"It's not so important, but ever since Furret and Electrode became my coworkers, a lot of injured Rattata have been coming in, even more so than usual. Coincidentally, most of them seem to be wild. Before then, I barely healed a single Rattata, either wild or trained. Now, they're coming in almost every single day, and it pains me to see so many injured Rattata." She explained.

Brock gasped, and looked towards Yvonne. "What did that entry say about Furret?" he asked urgently.

The blonde took it out, tapped a square containing the outline of a dictionary, and typed in 'Furret'. It then showed a picture of it, and its data. Brock read, "_**Despite its short legs, it is quick at hunting Rattata".**_

"It only says that it's quick at hunting-" Misty began, before realization struck her. Nurse Joy wanted to know what was wrong, and the two of them filled her in. Nurse Joy clasped two hands to her mouth in disbelief as Brock (with Fennekin and Crobat) ran off.

"Brock! Wait up!" Ash called, but he was already gone.

"I'm sure he can handle them." Yvonne sat on a bench, Ash and Misty on either side of her. Todd looked out of the window.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"Crobat, can you search for them?" the black man asked. The bat didn't need to be told twice. He flew off in the air in search for the mischievous duo. At first, it didn't see or hear anything, but then the sounds of electricity crackling rang in its ears, and it looked down to see Electrode unleashing electricity from its circular body towards two purple rat Pokemon. Crobat quickly flew down and grabbed the two of them with its legs before the burst of lightning could hit either of them. They scampered and struggled to break free, but Crobat explained the situation to them. They stopped moving as Crobat took them back to Brock.

"Not here, I have a plan. Take them back to that bush," Brock whispered.

Crobat nodded and did as he said, before heading back to the place where he saw the Electrode, but this time, he saw both Electrode and Furret terrorizing a group of Rattata. Crobat quickly flew in front of them, and before either of them knew what was going on, the bat opened its mouth and released supersonic waves at them, confusing them to the point where Furret curled itself around Electrode, thinking it was its offspring.

Crobat couldn't help but snicker quietly as he led the Rattata away, knowing that it wouldn't hold them off for long. The Poison/Flying type took them to the same place that it took the first two Rattata, before nesting itself on Brock's head again. Brock then shouted, "Oh, look! Fresh, plump, juicy Rattata! Hurry before a hungry Crobat gets its hands on it first!"

In just a few seconds, Furret and Electrode both scampered on all fours/rolled over to Brock, only to be disappointed when they didn't see any Rattata.

"Let's settle this!" Brock shouted, as the Fire Pokemon he was carrying jumped out of his arms. At the same time, Crobat flew off its nest/Brock's hair and flew next to his Double Battle partner. "Fennekin, Ember! Crobat, Steel Wing!"

All four wings of Crobat got covered in metal as Electrode launched a Thunder attack on it. It planted its steel wings into the ground as the electricity harmlessly passed it and directed onto the ground. He had learned this trick from watching Ash's battle against Winona back in Hoenn. Meanwhile, Fennekin released a weak burst of flames from its mouth, but Furret avoided it...only to get a fistful of sand in its face from Fennekin's tail. Its torso then got slammed into by the Fire-typed fox, sending it back a bit, but it still recovered.

"Now, Crobat, Swift!" The purple Pokemon unleashed a barrage of stars from its mouth that aimed at both of them. Electrode got in front of Furret and rolled in place, the attack bouncing off it harmlessly. It then rulled towards Fennekin quickly.

"Crobat, take her to the air!" The helpful bat Pokemon grabbed her and took her to the sky, but their opponents had other ideas. Furret grabbed the still rolling in place Electrode and tossed it towards Brock's Pokemon. He didn't seem worried for even a second.

"Detect." He spoke calmly, as Crobat's eyes glowed bright blue for a brief second. It then swerved under Electrode's midair Rollout attack, almost as if the Electric type were going in slow motion.

"Now, use Air Slash." Crobat flapped its wings, and as the name implied, slashes of wind formed from its wings and approached the upside-down Pokeball Pokemon, who briefly stopped rolling as its body got surrounded in a bright color. Before Brock could react, it reflected the Air Slash back at both of his Pokemon, who were forcefully going down diagonally. Electrode landed cleanly on Furret's back as Crobat managed to balance himself and his partner.

"Flamethrower." Just as Fennekin opened its mouth, Furret dashed towards her, jumped into the air and punched her in the stomach, canceling the attack. She and Crobat began to crash again, but just when they were about to crash, the fox dug its tail into the ground and slapped mud towards my favorite Pokemon. However, Electrode rolled off of it and took the hit. Crobat didn't let Furret go off the hook, as it briefly let go of Fennekin and bit into its tail. On Brock's command, it beat its wings facing the ground and let the gust force himself up with Furret...

Meanwhile, Fennekin went for another Quick Attack, when Electrode suddenly started making crackling sounds, before rising in the air just enough to avoid the attack. Even though its sight was blocked, it could still hear. It went in for another Quick Attack, but then a knot of grass tripped it up. Brock realized that Furret used Grass Knot to assist Electrode. Said attack didn't do much damage to her, being a light fire type, but Electrode could hear the crash just fine as a ball of electricity formed around it and shot at her, sending it flying. Meanwhile, Crobat let Furret go...and then looped in the air and rammed into it, sending it crashing.

"Switch targets!" Brock instructed. Crobat and Fennekin tried to switch places, but a quick Pursuit attack from Furret sent it tumbling on his tag battle partner as Electrode rolled to its partner's side. Meanwhile, a huge wave of water erupted from in front of Brock's opponents, towering over everything and everyone else.

"Crobat, grab Fennekin and fly over it!" Brock called out, wondering if they could do it on time. Crobat did as he was told and tried to fly over the giant wave, when suddenly, a wave of electricity hit the fire type, sending a mild jolt to Crobat's nerves and causing him to let go unintentionally. It was far too late to go back and get Fennekin (who just crashed on the ground), and then try and fly over the attack, so he got in front of her in a defensive position and put his wings in front of her securely. It took the entire move head-on as the surfboard-positioned Furret finished its attack. Without a moment's reprieve, Electrode rolled towards them, but then Crobat bit into it, and a green aura washed over the ball. Furret rushed over to help, but Fennekin scampered over on all fours and slapped up mud in its face, this time successfully.

By then, Crobat had finished its Giga Drain attack, thus sucking up all of Electrode's energy.

"Use Gust and Flamethrower!" Brock pointed at Furret, as Crobat whipped up a gust that headed towards the tall Pokemon. Fennekin used its Flamethrower to combine the two attacks into a flaming tornado that engulfed the Normal type Pokemon. Eventually, the attack subsided, and Furret struggled to remain conscious. It crawled over to them, before finally fainting.

Brock got out two Pokeballs. "Those two are unable to battle, so...go, Pokeballs!" He threw the two spheres at both of them and sucked them in. Both fell to the ground and started moving.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

_Ding!_

"All right, I caught a Furret...and an Electrode!" Brock exclaimed, taking a pose. He then released the Pokemon he caught, before getting out a couple of items from his backpack. A few minutes later, they were fully healed. Both of them smiled at him, before heading off.

"STOP!" he cried. "Now, explain yourselves!"

Furret began explaining his backstory...

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

_A family of Sentret were lying in a nest, when a Pokeball dropped in in front of it. The largest one (by a small margin) went to go pick it up, but then it began to glow, scaring the rest of the other Sentret. That's when it realized that it was Voltorb again! Voltorb was an intruder who tried (and failed) to break into their home. It quickly rushed towards it and tackled it away from the nest and off the tree, before jumping off and landing on its large tail. The ball Pokemon briefly stopped glowing, canceling whatever move it was about to do. Sparks began emanating from it as Sentret swiped its tail off the ground and swiped mud towards it, but as Sentret landed on all fours, Voltorb rolled out of the way. It then rolled back towards Sentret, faster than usual, sending it on the muddy ground. Voltorb turned back around and got ready to ram into Sentret again, when it got smacked with a water-covered tail, halting the attack._

_Then, before anyone knew what was happening, it glowed in a bright white light. Even Voltorb stopped trying to attack for a while to see what it would become. Sentret was now a long-bodied tan Pokemon with brown stripes and whiskers. Its bushy tail seemed to have merged with its whole body. The entire group of Sentret looked at the newly-evolved Pokemon in shock, as did Voltorb. In fact, Voltorb was so shocked that it didn't notice its opponent unleash a bright beam of energy from its mouth and hit it. With the intruder defeated, the victor looked back at the Sentret._

_"Furret!" it cried, the small creatures still shocked. They all ran away, saddening the tall Pokemon. It won the battle, but lost its friends. What was the point?_

_Soon, it dug a hole into the ground, and created an underground maze, and made a living by training and stealing food. It also had a strange urge to hunt down any Rattata in sight. One morning, it poked its head from the hole and saw Voltorb again, but this time, its colors were inverted. Furret stared at it strangely, before it explained that it evolved soon after the battle. Electrode wanted to know what happened after it lost the battle, so Furret filled him in on all the details._

_After hearing the story, Electrode decided to live with Furret (though not inside of the maze). They lived a decent life for a while, but then one day, in the middle of a training session, a boy walked past them, with a huge Pokemon behind him._

_"They should make good target practice. Torterra, Earth Power!" He barked, as his Pokemon glowed a golden hue. The area in front of it began to crack as Furret and Electrode tried to escape its line of sight. The ground was rumbling fiercely as the attack quickly headed towards them, so Furret shakily placed Electrode on its tail and launched it to the sky so that it wouldn't get hurt by the intense attack. It fainted from the sheer power of Earth Power, as the boy then had his Torterra use Hyper Beam on Electrode, who wasn't completely off the hook._

_"Pathetic." He and Torterra simply walked away._

_It had been at least an hour before a nurse went out and took them into a Pokemon Center. They were promptly healed just minutes later._

_They gave Nurse Joy their thanks as they stared at her Chansey enviously._

_"What's wrong?" the nurse wondered, before coming to her own conclusion. "Oh, I get it, you can't go back out there. Well, maybe my daughter will know what to do with you!"_

_As if on cue, a similar-looking woman not looking much younger arrived. The two of them had a brief conversation before it was decided that Furret (and Electrode) would be her coworkers, since she didn't have a Chansey of her own._

_So they had been helping Nurse Joy with her duties (and by helping, I mean hunting Rattata and taking them in to be healed, then hunting them all over again, thus starting a vicious cycle, though they did do some good from time to time. It had been an endless cycle, too, until Brock and his friends stopped it..._

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Brock looked at the two of them in pity. "I'm so sorry that happened to you two...but that's still no excuse. Come on, we're going in, and letting them know the truth!"

_20 Minutes Later..._

"All Furret ever wanted was to be acknowledged..." Misty realized.

The rest of them were speechless, except for Yvonne. "What jerk of a trainer attacked them, and for no reason, too?"

After a few minutes of apologizing from the Pokemon duo, Nurse Joy decided to forgive them. Having nothing else to do, Ash and his friends headed out of the center, and Brock got ready to recall Furret and Electrode, when they both pleaded him not to do it.

"You two want to stay outside, too?" Brock asked, and Furret nodded. Electrode gave out a cry to confirm Brock's suspicion.

"Okay, that's just weird..." Yvonne said, looking at Brock. In addition to the Fennekin in his arms and the Crobat on his head, he now had a Furret curved around him, and an Electrode rolling around him, eventually hovering with Magnet Rise.

"I agree..." Todd said, taking a picture, before going into his bag. "Oh, you wanted to see the legendaries I caught?"

Misty opened her mouth to say something, but Ash shushed her as Todd showed her a few pictures. "Here's Moltres...and Zapdos, too! Look, it's Articuno! Ash, Brock and Misty were there when I caught it! And even Mew!"

Yvonne turned red as she found out that Todd didn't capture Pokemon with balls; he captured them on _camera_! Ash and Pikachu burst out laughing as she went into an angered frenzy, and soon after, Misty, Azurill, and Brock laughed along with him. By now, everyone (except Todd and Yvonne, of course) was in fits of giggles.

"IT'S _NOT_ FUNNY!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

**CREDITS**

**Back to Basics**

**Creator: marioluigifan05**

**Theme Song: Jason Paige **

**4Kids Entertainment **

**Voices**

**Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor**

**Brock: Eric Stuart**

**Professor Oak: Stan Hart**

**Tracey: Ted Lewis**

**Misty: Rachael Lillis**

**Pikachu: Ikue Otani**

**Yvonne: Rachael Lillis**


	6. Chapter 6

Paul fans: **DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER!**

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(Theme)

"Go, Go, Gogoat!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A few days after that incident, Todd left the group for unknown reasons, so now it was just Ash, Yvonne, Brock, and Misty. The blonde girl had showed them all a picture of another mysterious Pokemon on her device. It was a large, ferocious avian-like creature. It was mainly red in coloring, but had black lines.

"What's that Pokemon?" Brock wondered to himself, as she showed them another picture on her tablet, this time of a black and blue deer-like Pokemon with eight horned antlers on each side of its head.

"This one is Xerneas, and the one I showed before is Yveltal," Yvonne answered.

Otherwise, it was just the usual training for when Ash would retake the Indigo League in a few weeks. Aside from getting lost every once in a while, nothing much of interest happened, until they arrived at Vermillion City. The first thing they noticed was an Officer Jenny riding on a motorcycle towards them. A sky blue turtle with sunglasses (not unlike his Krookodile) was with her.

"Ash, that looks like your Squirtle..." Brock began, approaching Officer Jenny. "...and the love of my life!" He then clasped her hands together. The fire type on his shoulder looked distraught as Misty pulled his ear and yanked him away. Ash laughed nervously, as he approached her much the same way (minus the flirting, of course).

"Officer Jenny! How's Squirtle doing?" the boy inquired.

"SQUIRTLE!" the Pokemon shouted, saluting to him and Pikachu. Pikachu greeted him back.

"What a coincidence that I ran into you here," Officer Jenny began. "He seems to have gotten split up from the rest of his squad. It seemed to have happened at least a while ago, as we couldn't find the rest of them."

"So what are you going to do?" Ash wanted to know.

"I'll keep looking. Ash, take back your Squirtle for now," she offered, driving away from them without it. Two others followed behind her, a few Growlithe close behind. Brock and Misty chose that moment to come back, and Ash updated them. Since Ash's party was full, Ash had to replace Palpitoad.

"Should we help them?" questioned Ash.

"I'd love to help, but we-" Misty was cut off by a loud rumbling noise from a nearby route. "W-W-What was that?!"

"Only one way to find out..." Brock mused.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A purple-haired guy of around Ash's age was training his Magmortar (and by training, I mean ruthlessly bossing it around). His "training" was interrupted by footsteps. At first, he ignored it, but then when they got louder, he turned around to see Brock, Ash and Misty. Ash and Brock were shocked; what was he doing in Kanto? They decided to confront him on his actions, when-

"I see you're as pathetic as ever." Paul sneered, apparently having not changed.

Ash frowned at him. It looked like he was a douche again (and unlike Gary, he must not have been acting), but why?

"I know what you're thinking." Paul continued, as he recalled his Magmortar. "You really thought I had gained respect for you, didn't you? Well, guess what, I beat Brandon, so that about evens us out."

"He still beat you in the league." Brock pointed out.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Ash snapped.

"Entering the Pokemon World Tournament, genius," Paul scoffed. "When I found out that the Indigo League merged with the PWT, I couldn't resist the chance to show the Pokemon world how powerful I am." He then turned to Brock. "And also, he beat me only once by a stroke of luck, out of the multiple times I trashed him. Before you ask, I don't count the Pokeringer competition."

"Why don't you just back off?" Misty complained, not liking his attitude.

"I have no intention of backing off. Don't tell me you're afraid?" Paul replied.

"Go be a sore loser somewhere else!" Brock interjected.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

Paul narrowed his eyes. "At least I can battle, unlike you."

"Who is this jerk?" Yvonne wondered, and Ash looked towards her.

"Long story," he answered.

"If you think you can beat me, why don't you try?" Brock urged him. Paul may have beaten him and Holly in the Tag Battle Tournament, but this time would be different. Next to him, he felt Furret, Fennekin, and Electrode tense up at the sight of the grape-haired boy.

"What's wrong?" Misty was referring to the trio. That's when Brock remembered part of the story that Furret told him about how he got ruthlessly assaulted by a trainer. He also remembered that when the injured Fennekin was taken to him, he was told that it was found that way.

"Paul was the person who attacked you three before, wasn't he?" Brock guessed, and they tensed up even more.

"I accept." Paul replied, ignoring the whole scene, as he and Brock took their positions.

Brock made a silent vow. "I won't let him get away with this...!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"This 3-on-3 battle will be between Brock of Pewter City and Paul from..." Misty realized she didn't know where Paul was from.

"BEGIN!" Ash finished for her.

"Aggron, stand by for battle!" Paul declared, sending out his Rock/Steel monster of a Pokemon.

"Steelix, let's go!" Brock shouted, releasing the tall Iron Snake Pokemon. He then seized the opportinity, "Use Stone Edge!"

Paul sneered. Stone Edge wouldn't have much effect on Aggron. And right, he was, as the stones launched at hs Aggron had little effect. Yet, for some reason, Brock repeated his command. He was probably trying to get him to snap under pressure, which would then lead to a trap, but it wouldn't work. It might have worked if this was a rookie trainer that Brock was up against, but Paul wasn't just anyone.

"Umm...why is Paul just standing there? Why is Brock spamming the same move?" Misty wondered.

"Beats me." Ash responded. It was like watching a five second clip on loop. No one was moving, well, except Steelix to an extent.

"He has other options he could use, like Earthquake, but uses Stone Edge? Interesting," Yvonne mused to herself, recording the match. She would later truncate the extraneous Stone Edges.

"So you gonna actually make a move or what?" Paul actually seemed to be losing his patience as Stone Edge attack after Stone Edge attack bounced off the Rock/Steel type Pokemon belonging to him. Brock didn't say anything in response.

_15 Grueling Minutes Later_

Suddenly, the unexpected happened. Steelix...stopped using Stone Edge, making everyone think that Brock would command something else, when Aggron...fainted.

"Aggron is unable to battle!" cried Misty in surprise. "The winner is Steelix, from Pewter City!"

"All right, Brock!" cheered Ash and Misty.

Paul growled. "I won't let that happen again." He recalled Aggron, and then gave him a scolding. "That was _absolutely pathetic_! You shouldn't have taken _any _damage at all! Magmortar, _stand by for battle_!" He sent out his Magmortar, which was the evolution of Magmar.

Misty and Yvonne were horrified at the cruel things he was saying, but Brock and Ash were hardly surprised.

"Steelix, Earthquake!" Brock commanded. Steelix slammed its tail on the ground and created a huge tremor that would have hit Magmortar had Paul not ordered a Protect. The problems were not over as the pebbles and dust that accumulated on the ground as a result of the "failed" Stone Edge attacks rose up around Magmortar, forming a smoke cloud.

"Magmortar, you know what to do." Magmortar did know. With one swoop of its tail, it blew all of the smoke away, but Steelix was nowhere to be found.

"Where did Steelix go?" Ash was confused, especially as Yvonne made a zipping motion on her mouth.

"How did Steelix disappear so fast? Unless...Magmortar, use Earthquake!" Paul sneered at Brock as Magmortar jumped into the air and landed hard on the ground, creating strong tremors. Any minute now, Steelix would emerge from underground, and take even more damage from the attack, possibly fainting it. But it didn't emerge at all, even as craters and fissures formed all over the battlefield.

"Toxic, now!" Brock requested, and Magmortar tried to counter with a Thunderbolt while it spun around. Whichever direction the electric attack stopped abruptly, that's where Steelix was hiding. It would also block any incoming globs of poison. All the Thunderbolt did was manage to flail wildly. Without a moment to spare, a small four-winged creature bit into Magmortar's arm and injected its venom into it. When Magmortar tried to swat it away, it made the mistake of looking into the bat's glowing red eyes. The fire Pokemon's heavy eyelids dropped as it fell asleep. It then gave a heavy snore that sent the winged Pokemon flying backward.

"Toxic and Hypnosis...that should keep him on his toes..." Yvonne commentated.

"Big mistake." Paul glowered. "Sleep Talk, and get rid of it, now!"

Magmortar muttered something in its sleep, before taking out its arm cannon and blasting flames at its opponent.

"Crobat, Gust!" Crobat rapidly beat all four of its wings to create a strong gust of wind while ascending a little. The wind created a pseudo-barrier in front of the user, protecting it from harm, and Crobat's continued ascension dodged whatever flames weren't blown away.

"Sleep Talk again." Magmortar jumped high into the air, Crobat quickly flying to its level. Just as Magmortar was descending, Brock told his Pokemon, "Use Brave Bird!"

Crobat flew down above Magmortar's head, glowing three different colors: icy blue, lightning yellow, and fiery red, on to its opponent like a Crobat outta hell (actually, that described Crobat's appearance perfectly at this moment, the fiery red glow in particular matching this expression). In less than a second, it crashed on Magmortar's head, making it fall much faster. Thanks to the momentum of the fall (Brave Bird included), Magmortar had taken a lot of damage. Crobat had taken some recoil damage, too, but it still looked just fine. Without a moment's reprieve, Brock had it use Acrobatics. It disappeared and reappeared to strike Magmortar multiple times. Everytime Paul would issue a command, Crobat would just weave around it and then come back to do more damage to the huge Pokemon. A few seconds later, it was over as Magmortar finally toppled over.

"Magmortar is unable to battle, the winner is Crobat from Pewter City!" Misty announced, as Crobat gracefully landed on the ground. It didn't come out completely unscathed, as small flames appeared on its bottom right wing. Flame Body had taken effect.

"It's Mt. Moon." Ash snickered, earning himself a kick in the face from the Cerulean City Gym Leader, who then turned back to the battlefield.

"Crobat's burned," she observed, as the bat glared at her, tucking its burned wing under its body.

"But that's a small price to pay," Yvonne added.

"Crobat, you still wanna battle?" Brock waited for an answer, and it nodded. Paul had recalled Magmortar and sent out his Electivire. It had given Ash a lot of trouble back at the Sinnoh League, but Brock was sure he could take it on.

"BEGIN!" shouted Misty.

"Electivire, Thunder!" The Electabuzz evolution let loose a huge stream of electricity. The ground split even more as the attack tore into it, debris flying around as a result of this. Brock just stared into the distance.

"Brock, do something!" urged Ash and Misty.

"You ready, Crobat?" Brock turned to his Pokemon, who nodded.

"Return." he spoke calmly. Paul frowned at his opponent, thinking that he had recalled his Pokemon, but then a white outline suddenly appeared around Crobat as it charged through the high powered electric attack with ease, even cancelling it out. Before anyone could react, it crashed into Electivire, causing a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Electivire was out, shocking everyone, including Paul.

"I-I don't believe it!" Ash gasped. "What was that attack?"

"T-That's Return, an attack that increases in power the closer the Pokemon's bond with its trainer is. But..." Misty began, before realizing that she hadn't announced the winner. Ash cut in for her, "Electivire is unable to battle! Since Paul's last Pokemon is defeated, that means the winners are Crobat from Mt. Moon and Brock from Pewter City!"

"We did it!" Brock cheered, his Crobat flying around him.

"I still have three more, you know." Paul hissed. Crobat growled lowly at him.

"As I recall, you two agreed to a 3-on-3 battle, just admit that you lost," Yvonne told Paul, who ignored her and sent out his Froslass.

Misty got in front of Brock. "If he wants to be that way, then fine. I'll show him the skill of a true Water Master. Gooo, Starmie!" She sent out a purple 10-sided starfish with a red glowing gen in the middle of its body. Her Pokemon spun around in place.

"Froslass, Shadow Ball, make it quick." Paul snorted, as Froslass formed a dark circular ball in front of itself, and then hurled it at Starmie.

"Starmie, Light Screen!" commanded Misty, and a transparent barrier appeared in front of Starmie, protecting it from the attack just in time. The ball dissipated into the air as Misty had Starmie use Bubblebeam. It spun around, shooting rapid bubbles from its ten sides as Froslass weaved around all of them.

"Hail, and then finish it with Blizzard." A hail storm began on cue, not only damaging Starmie, but concealing Froslass, too.

"Starmie, Camouflage!" Misty cried, as Starmie changed its body color to blend in with the weather, getting out of sight.

"Now, Gravity!" she instructed, as a psychic-like energy forced everything and everyone to the ground, stopping the hail altogether. Froslass and a now light blue Starmie faced off against each other, tied to the ground.

"Thunderbolt." Paul grunted, as Froslass covered itself in lightning, before attempting to unleash it at its opponent. The electricity was simply drawn to the ground in front of Starmie. Misty smiled as she recalled Starmie and tossed her Poke Ball into the air, releasing her Atrocious Pokemon. It materialized just above Froslass, diving down at it to bite. The increased Gravity made it all the more faster as Gyarados bit down on Froslass before either her or Paul could do a thing.

"I've always overlooked the move Gravity," Yvonne commented to no one in particular.

Gyarados and Froslass were now comically smushed into the ground, the latter being bitten into. On Misty's next command, it expelled flames from its mouth, which surrounded the trapped Froslass and fainted it.

"Froslass is unable to battle, the winner is Gyarados from Cerulean City!" Ash refereed.

Paul recalled Froslass. "One more mistake like that, and you're out. Ninjask, stand by for battle!" His Bug/Flying type Pokemon was released from its Poke Ball, flying around Gyarados annoyingly. That meant that the effects of Gravity had worn off. Misty recalled Gyarados and sent out a spiked blue seahorse.

"So Horsea evolved," Ash observed.

"Ninjask, Fury Cutter," Paul demanded, as Ninjask appeared right before Seadra and cut it, before disappearing and reappearing again, repeating its move.

"Seadra, Smokescreen!" Misty yelled, as it expelled a thick cloud of smoke from its snout, obscuring the area.

"Pathetic move. Aerial Ace, now!" Ninjask disappeared from sight, and popped up behind Seadra with a thin white outline around it.

"Use Water Gun on the ground, now!" Seadra spat a pump of water on the ground, raising the snow that gathered on the surface, some of it landing on Ninjask. It shivered, stopping in its tracks because of the cold.

"Now, Ice Beam!" Misty instructed her Seadra, as a beam of ice came out of its snout, freezing it in place. It fell to the ground, crashing the ice surrounding it.

"Ninjask, get up!" Paul yelled, but nothing happened.

"Ninjask is unable to battle, the winner is Seadra!" Ash announced, as a glowering Paul returned his Ninjask and sent out his starter Pokemon, Torterra. Seadra and Misty tensed up a bit.

"Scared, huh?" Paul sneered. "Use Razor Leaf!"

Without moving its massive body, Torterra sent sharp leaves towards Seadra, hitting it for massive damage.

"Seadra!" Misty cried in concern. "Are you okay?"

Seadra gave out a weak cry in response. "Return!" its trainer shouted, and it was brought back to its Ball. "Go, Politoed!" A green and yellow frog with one strand of curly hair emerged from the capsule. It cheered for a few seconds, but then frowned intensely at its Grass/Ground type opponent.

"Politoed, use Double Slap!" Misty called out, and the frog ran towards Torterra. Paul made no move, even as Torterra's face was slapped multiple times.

"Earthquake." Torterra raised its forelegs and slammed them to the ground, creating powerful tremors that shook everyone off balance. Unfortunately, Politoed was up close, so took the brunt of the attack.

"Stone Edge, let's go!" Paul roared, as sharp glowing stones circled around Torterra's front. They then became grey and launched towards Politoed.

"Double Slap them away!" Misty requested. She had planned this strategy for stubborn Rock and Ground types who tried to take her Pokemon quickly. It used its hands as a defense and dispatched all incoming rocks. All of the remaining ones that weren't blocked were redirected around the slapper and hit it, knocking it down. Politoed quickly got back up, albeit with major difficulty.

"Perish Song!" Misty cried, and Politoed sang the most horrible song that any of them had ever heard. Everyone, even Paul, covered their ears. Torterra shook its head for a few seconds, before Paul commanded a Frenzy Plant.

"Bounce!" countered Misty, as Politoed crouched its legs, and soared high into the air. It was descending towards Torterra, who was still initiating Frenzy Plant. Just as Politoed was going to strike the gigantic Pokemon, a thorn scraped it on the side, followed by many others wrapping it up.

"Toss it." Paul smirked at her as the thorns sent Misty's Pokemon flying towards her. It groaned in pain as it tried to get up yet again. That Frenzy Plant had taken it down, though not completely. Before Paul could hurt it anymore, Misty replaced it with Gyarados.

"Flamethrower while it has to recharge!" Her Water/Flying type unleashed flames from its open maw and sent them towards Torterra, who put all of its weight into the area it was standing in, causing the ground around it to crumble and send it downward a bit, which let it avoid the flames. Unfortunately, it was all for naught, as that horrible song from earlier rang in its ears once again, making it fall over, much to the dismay of Paul.

"Torterra is unable to battle, which means the winners are Gyarados and Misty from Cerulean City!" Ash and Pikachu cheered, as Paul recalled his Pokemon and muttered something that no one heard. Misty and Gyarados were celebrating their victory over the jerk.

"You two got lucky. Next time, in the PWT, you won't be so lucky." Paul walked away as soon as he finished his sentence.

"We should get to a Pokemon Center," Ash said.

"Or I can just heal them up in a less traditional manner." Yvonne held out a Poke Ball, and threw it into the air, far from everyone. "Gogoat!"

Out came a large brown and white goat-like Pokemon with black horns and a green "scarf" which extended to a linear patch that ended past its back, the end of the patch being a "tail". The scarf was filled with all sorts of berries, herbs, and other medicinal items (think Dia's Tru/Torterra).

Ash moved his hand to his pocket to get out his Pokedex, but Yvonne stopped him with, "It won't scan."

"Pika?"

"Yes, really," Yvonne answered. She didn't understand Pikachu, but just assumed she knew what he had said. She then turned to Gogoat in curiosity. "How was the daycare?" Misty and Brock sent out the Pokemon that had participated in the battle with Paul. Gogoat shook itself and flung a couple of the berries from the bush-like scarf on its neck. Crobat quickly flew and caught them all, before gently dropping them to the ground. The Pokemon all ate at least one berry and restored their health/got rid of a status condition. Crobat flew back to Brock's head and fell asleep.

Gogoat then turned to its trainer and lowered its head, its horns now covered in orange. It then turned to a nearby rock and charged at it, when Eevee zipped in front of it and took the attack head on. Eevee looked hurt by the attack, but stood strong. Gogoat looked as refreshed as ever.

"You learned Horn Leech!" Yvonne cried, as Eevee took a couple of berries to heal up. The blonde then climbed on it, and sat on its back. Ash, Misty, and Brock looked on in curiosity.

"You three coming on or not?" she offered them. Without a word, they climbed on its back, and Yvonne directed her Pokemon through the forest. Misty and Brock were awed, while Ash just looked on. Yvonne gestured Gogoat to stop, and turned to Ash. "Anything the matter?"

"No, not really," Ash answered.

"Are you enjoying the ride?" she inquired.

"It's nice, I suppose, but it doesn't beat riding on the back of a Lapras," he told her quietly. Misty remembered her time in the Orange Islands fondly, while Brock just sat there.

"Did you say Lapras?" Yvonne interrogated, causing him to scoot back a bit.

"Why is it so important?" Misty questioned.

"Hold on tight!" Yvonne yelled out, as Gogoat quickly made a sharp right.

"PIKACHUU!" Pikachu yelled out, nearly falling off. Yvonne's giant Pokemon soon carried them towards a sea. It was quiet and peaceful, as expected.

"Why are we- whoa!" Ash exclaimed, as a familiar sight appeared before him. It was a Lapras. To be more precise, _his_ Lapras. And it was leading a heard of its species.

"The Lapras, along with many other water types, both foreign and native, all migrated to the Kanto region," Yvonne explained.

"Hey, Lapras!" Ash called, waving at it. The leader stopped and turned towards him. "It's been a while!"

"Pika!" Pikachu climbed out of his shoulder and stood next to Ash, so they could be recognized better.

All of them bayed at him as Ash got closer. "It's nice to see you again!"

His Pokemon nudged his waist with its blue horned head, tickling him. Ash laughed a little. "What's up?" He then understood. Lapras wanted to travel with him again. He took out his Pokedex and sent his Corphish (who he had been training for a while) to the lab so that Lapras could still be with him, before rummaging through his backpack for Lapras's Poke Ball, and catching it inside. The Pokemon stayed in without so much as a struggle. He then picked it up and held it to the rest of the herd to see.

"I'll bring it back safely...I promise," he declared, and they softly bayed at him again, indicating that they trusted him. They then swam off until they were just specks in the sea to Ash and his friends. Ash then twirled around a few times, before holding it towards the people. "All right, I brought back...Lapras!"

Pikachu jumped into the air. "Pika!"

"Hate to interrupt, but what now?" Yvonne cut in. "I don't have a place in particular I'd like to go, but maybe one of you do?"

Misty and Brock shook their heads, while Ash was deep in thought. After a while, he answered with, "There is one, actually..."

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Their next location after a couple of days was Mt. Silver, which served as the barrier between the Kanto and Johto regions. It would have taken weeks had it not been for the seemingly tireless Gogoat. They had arrived at their location by nighttime.

Yvonne recalled her Gogoat. "Why are we here again?"

Ash smiled at her. "To bring back an old friend." Misty and Brock knew who he was talking about, while Yvonne looked confused. A terrifying roar sounded off in their ears, and Yvonne shivered.

"I-I sure hope that's n-not his old friend," she mumbled to herself, sending out a ghost Pokemon with gems as eyes.

They heard the roar again, which only seemed to encourage Ash, Misty and Brock to go into the mouth of the mountain. Yvonne and Sableye reluctantly trailed behind them.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

**CREDITS**

**Back to Basics**

**Creator: marioluigifan05**

**Theme Song: Jason Paige **

**4Kids Entertainment **

**Voices**

**Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor**

**Brock: Eric Stuart**

**Professor Oak: Stan Hart**

**Tracey: Ted Lewis**

**Misty: Rachael Lillis**

**Pikachu: Ikue Otani**

**Yvonne: Rachael Lillis**


	7. Chapter 7

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(Theme)

"The Summit of Mt. Silver"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Two guards were in front of the entrance to Mt. Silver. They wouldn't let them pass unless they were shown at least sixteen badges, so Ash showed them the insides of his jacket, where all his Kanto and Johto badges were placed. He even went the extra mile and showed off the rest of the badges from the other regions, including his Orange Islands badges and Battle Frontier symbols. The guards could only stand there in shock as Ash, Misty and Brock walked past them.

The first few steps inside of Mt. Silver were uneventful, but that all changed when a horde of Golbat flew towards them on the offensive. Pikachu and Froakie got ready to attack them, but Crobat got in front of them and sent small red rings at the duo. It didn't put them to sleep immediately, but made them a bit drowsy. He then flew above the Golbat, and chattered something inaudible to them.

"Pika, Pika?" Pikachu tapped its head in confusion. Froakie simply chirped in response. The Golbat all seemed to calm down, and slowly fly back to wherever they came from.

"Amazing job, Crobat!" Brock congratulated, as it nested itself back on his head, lowering its wings on his hair. It actually looked quite harmless when perched on Brock.

With the bats out of the way, it was smooth sailing for a while longer. The only thing they encountered within that timeframe were a small horde of Donphan (who were kept busy by Ash's: they had raced each other around Mt. Silver, Ash's Donphan's endurance earning it a victory in each event, and also tiring out the others), and Golduck, who had no intention of letting them pass.

"Looks like we'll have to-" Ash began, before a red laser shot out of one of Misty's balls. Out came her Psyduck, which blankly turned to Golduck.

"Psy...duck?"

Golduck seemed to relax a bit.

Misty sighed in relief. "Maybe this'll be easier than I thought." But alas, she was wrong, as Golduck tensed up and sprayed a blast of water its pre-evolved form's head.

Psyduck cried out in pain and ran around, clutching its face the whole time. Before anyone could react, Psyduck glowed with a light blue outline, and then surrounded its evolved form with the same aura, before slamming it into a rock, angering it further. The blue Pokemon ran towards Psyduck, webbed hands in front of it at an offensive stance, before scratching Psyduck multiple times.

"Psyduck, use Headbutt!" Misty directed, but her Pokemon was engulfed in the psychic aura. It was soon flung to the ceiling, head first. It fell to the ground in front of Golduck, who got ready for another Fury Swipes, when a giant azure sphere suddenly surrounded the yellow duck Pokemon. Everyone stepped back as rocks and debris were forced into the air by the barrier, which was steadily growing larger. Even Golduck looked a bit wary, but it was too late for it to do anything as the energy extended towards it, the scattered debris also hitting it with the psychic energy. This caused a giant smoke cloud to form around the two ducks.

"Psyduck..." Misty prayed. "Please come out okay."

Her prayers were answered as the smoke cleared to reveal Psyduck standing on top of its evolution, confused.

Yvonne shrugged. "That's the power of a headache, I suppose." Ash and Brock glanced at each other.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

They soon found themselves out of the cave and at the summit, where Yvonne's Sableye lured a bunch of wild Geodude and Graveler out of their way so that they could pass. It then taunted them into exploding, all at the same time. Being part-Ghost type, Sableye wasn't affected by the huge explosion at all. The next Pokemon they encountered was an Ursaring, which Brock's Crobat subdued with Hypnosis. Somehow, it was able to convince the giant bear Pokemon that it was on their side. Most of the rest of the journey to the summit was spent with Ursaring protecting the group from the rest of the wild Pokemon that resided in Mt. Silver, demolishing most of them in mere seconds.

_It's only a matter of time,_ thought Ash, as Crobat led Ursaring away from them, then came back to Brock's side. Just then, they heard a scary roaring noise, this one different from the earlier one. Each of them held out a Poke Ball in a protective stance as Pikachu, Froakie, Azurill, Electrode, Crobat, Sableye, Furret, and Fennekin formed a line of defense in front of everybody.

"Hey, Ash!" a familiar voice rang from above, and everyone relaxed. They all looked up to see a blue and maroon three-headed dragon with black fur that seemed to extend to six thin wings. On the dragon was a boy with brown gray hair, a light orange shirt, blue shorts, and a light blue backpack on his back. Why he was wearing that thin outfit in the cold weather (despite having a white scarf on) was anyone's guess. Behind the boy was the Aura Pokemon, Lucario.

"Camoron!" Ash greeted back. "How'd you get here?" As far as Ash knew, he only had eight badges from Unova.

"Soon after the Unova League, I headed to Johto and got eight more badges, and now I'm up here!" Camoron explained. "So, how about a battle, Ash? This won't be like last time, where I got disqualified!"

"Sure thing!" Ash agreed, taking his place as Camoron and Lucario went down. Camoron then recalled Hydriegon and took his place in the battlefield as well. Camoron counted his Poke Balls to make sure he had six, which he did.

"Six-on-six! No substitutions!" he announced. "Go, Ferrothorn!"

A Pokemon looking like a metallic durian with thorns and three vine-like appendages with spiky metal disks. Yvonne took out her tablet and started to record the scene.

"Tauros, I choose you!" Ash cried, sending out the Wild Bull Pokemon.

"A Normal type against a part Steel type...this won't end well for him," Yvonne told herself.

"This battle between Ash's Tauros and Camoron's Ferrothorn will now begin!" refereed Brock.

"Ferrothorn, Power Whip!" Camoron shouted, and his Pokemon waved its three appendages, before flinging them at Tauros.

Ash smiled. "Rock Climb, now!" His Tauros stamped on the ground, and a huge rock pillar appeared below Ferrothorn, forcing it upward and bringing its spiky vines off balance, thus making the Power Whip attack fail to hit its opponent, who was then running up the rock. Its head slammed into the Grass/Steel type and sent it crashing to the ground. Tauros groaned in pain, and that was when Ash remembered that it had the Iron Barbs ability. That meant that contact attacks would do recoil damage to Tauros.

"Pin Missile!" Camoron instructed immediately. The metallic Pokemon pointed two of its appendages at Tauros and shot multiple pin missiles at Tauros.

"Dodge it!" Ash called in urgency. Tauros ran to the side and dodged each one that came towards him.

"Gyro Ball!" Camoron ordered quickly. His Ferrothorn spread its appendages apart and started spinning in place. It then spun towards Tauros while scraping the ground.

"Tauros, stand your ground!" Ash requested. It dug its hooves into the ground as Ferrothorn reached it. Tauros lowered its head and withstood the Gyro Ball attack, its appendages getting tangled in its horns, which shocked Camoron.

"It's trapped! Use Take Down!" Ash shouted. Tauros did the command, but ran away from Ferrothorn, flinging it around and accumulating more and more damage on it. This went on for about a minute. Camoron grabbed his headband and stretched it away from his head, before letting it go, causing the headwear to smack hard on his head. At the same time, Tauros slammed Ferrothorn on the ground, finishing it off once and for all.

"No! Just when I had an idea..." Camoron weeped.

"Ferrothorn is unable to battle, the winner is Tauros from the Safari Zone!" Brock announced.

Yvonne turned to him. "Which Safari Zone?"

As Brock answered the question, Camoron had already replaced his Ferrothorn with Hydriegon.

"Hydriegon, Tri Attack!" Camoron commanded, and Hydriegon opened its three mouths and formed spheres of red, blue and yellow, before sending them towards its opponent.

"Dodge it!" Ash shouted, but Tauros wasn't fast enough to avoid the attack and got sent flying back.

"Giga Impact!" Camoron roared.

Hydriegon glowed in a light-purple-and-yellow aura and flew towards Tauros, who created a huge rock pillar at Ash's request. It then ran onto it as Hydriegon was getting closer.

"Smash through that rock!" shouted the headband wearer, as Tauros had nearly reached the top.

"Jump!" Ash cried, as Tauros reached the apex of the pillar and jumped high in the air. Hydriegon had managed to land its attack, but all it hit was the rock pillar, which crumbled in pieces.

Camoron frowned. "Hydriegon, Tri Attack again!"

His Pokemon panted heavily, having had to rest after that Giga Impact attack. Meanwhile, Ash commanded a Wild Charge. Tauros looked down at the tired Hydriegon and cloaked itself in electricity. Few things were scarier than an electricity-covered wild bull about to descend down on an opponent, so Hydriegon had every reason to be worried, especially as Tauros rammed into its chest hard, sending it crashing to the ground. Tauros landed as nimbly as it could, but was also hurt from the recoil. Hydriegon struggled to get up as Ash ordered a Horn Attack.

Camoron snapped his headband on his head once again, before holding his head. He then grinned at Ash. "Fly above it!"

Hydriegon flapped its wings and narrowly evaded the Horn Attack, now out of reach of its opponent.

"Keep using Tri Attack!" Camoron commanded.

The Dark/Dragon type continued to launch orbs of the three primary colors at Tauros, who dodged all of them. Eventually, the dragon got so tired that it slowly began to descend from the air, in reach of Tauros once again.

"Horn Attack, one more time!" cried Ash, as Tauros rammed into Hydriegon's chest with its horns, sending it falling to the ground in defeat.

"Hydriegon is unable to battle, the winner is Tauros from the Safari Zone!" announced Brock again.

"Two down, four to go," Ash told himself, as Camoron replaced his fallen Pokemon with the fully evolved Unova Water Starter Pokemon, the quadrupedal Samurott.

"Wow, a Samurott!" Misty gushed. "I've only ever heard of this Pokemon, but finally I get to see one in person!"

"Samurott, Aqua Jet!" Camoron yelled out, as it cloaked itself in water and quickly launched itself at Tauros, sending it staggering back.

"Now, Hydro Cannon!" continued Camoron, as Samurott opened its mouth and spat a huge stream of water at Tauros, forcing it backward. The attack took its toll on the Wild Bull and fainted it.

"Tauros is unable to battle, the winner is Samurott from-" Misty began, before Ash cut in with, "From Professor Juniper's lab!"

Misty glared at a smirking Ash. Ash returned his Tauros, gave his thanks, and then threw another Poke Ball. "I have the perfect opponent for you...Infernape, I choose you!" The Sinnoh Fire/Fighting starter emerged from its Poke Ball, poised for battle. The two fully evolved starters both glared at each other.

Yvonne turned pale at the sight of Infernape. "Why did he use a fire type against Samurott, is he trying to get Camoron to catch up?!"

Misty also looked a bit worried. "I sure hope he knows what he's doing..."

"Begin!" Brock announced.

"Mach Punch!" Ash instructed, as Infernape zoomed towards its enemy and gave it a hard punch in the face, and then zipped back to its original position.

Camoron's jaw dropped. "Whoa, that thing's fast! Aqua Jet, quick!"

Once again, Samurott covered itself in a veil of water as it leaped towards Infernape, who stood there with a smirk on his face.

"Dodge it!" Ash urged the monkey, as Infernape did a series of flips above the Water type to dodge. _I'm sure he'll use Hydro Cannon next..._

Ash's prediction was right as Samurott unleashed a giant geyser of water, which Infernape dug under. Just like Hydriegon before, Samurott was tuckered out from the immense stamina required for the powerful attack. Just then, Infernape reemerged from below Samurott and gave it an uppercut under its jaw, forcing it skyward. When it landed down, Ash asked for a Close Combat attack, and Infernape proceeded to kick and punch Infernape everywhere.

"Samurott, get away!" Camoron shouted, but it was no use. "I knew I should have used Razor Shell instead..." Before Infernape was finished, Samurott struck it with her horn so it could have some breathing room.

"All right! Use Aqua Jet again!" yelled Camoron, who had just smacked himself again. Samurott, again for its part, launched its water-covered body at Infernape, who jumped over it, which led to Samurott redirecting it upward and hitting him. Infernape tumbled on the ground as Samurott used the attack once more, but this time, Ash was ready.

"Dodge with Flamethrower!" Infernape lied on its stomach and spat flames on the ground, ascending itself above the Aqua Jet. Samurott stopped its attack and looked up in surprise.

"Mach Punch!" Infernape immediately turned to Samurott and zipped towards it, giving it another punch in the face. That was enough to knock it down, rendering it unable to battle.

"Infernape is unable to battle, the winner is Samurott!" Brock declared.

Yvonne gasped. "H-H-He won?"

Infernape whooped for joy as Camoron recalled Samurott and replaced it with Swanna.

"Infernape vs Swanna. Begin!" Brock cried.

"Infernape, Dig!" called Ash, as Infernape created another hole. It reemerged under Swanna, intending to uppercut it, but this time, it missed. Swanna tried desperately to attack Infernape with its wings, beak and bubbles, but each time, they missed. By the time Infernape was done digging, there were at least thirty holes in the battlefield. Infernape jumped above Swanna, who was going in for another Wing Attack.

"Flamethrower!" Infernape aimed its Flamethrower at Swanna, who avoided it by swerving to the side. The flames went inside one of the holes, and out of another. Unfortunately for Swanna, it was above the second hole, so it took the Flamethrower.

"Swanna, no!" Camoron yelled. Swanna probably could have taken the attack, but it was so tired from all of that moving, so it just collapsed on the ground.

"Swanna is unable to battle, which means Infernape wins!" announced Misty, as Infernape and Ash cheered again. Camoron recalled the Water/Flying type and looked at his fifth Poke Ball. After a few seconds, he tossed it in an overhead motion.

"Watchog, go!" It opened up...and nothing came out. The sphere just fell to the ground. "It's...empty?"

The rest of them (including Lucario) sighed as Camoron scrambled to pick it up. He then pointed to the field. "Lucario, go!"

"Infernape, up for another round?" questioned Ash. Infernape nodded. "Then we're gonna win it!" He roared in assent.

"Begin!" chanted Yvonne/Misty/Brock, who all stared at each other.

"Infernape/Lucario, Mach Punch!" Ash/Camoron called. Both of them dashed towards each other and clashed fists.

"Use Close Combat!" They both went into a flurry of punches and kicks, most of which were blocked by the other.

"Flamethrower!" Ash cried, as Infernape released flames from its mouth at Lucario, who blocked it with Aura Sphere.

The rest of the match went on like this, until Infernape got too tired to keep up with Lucario in yet another Close Combat attack war. Lucario kicked it off, and then followed up with Aura Sphere, which took down Infernape.

"Infernape is unable to battle, the winner is Lucario!" Brock shouted.

"Thanks a lot, Infernape, you were great," Ash told the Sinnoh Pokemon, after he recalled it. He then took out another Poke Ball. "I choose you...Tauros!" He sent out the Wild Bull Pokemon, looking perfectly healthy.

Yvonne's jaw dropped. "Huh!?"

If Yvonne was surprised, then Camoron was downright shocked. "How did it revive! I took it out, I know I did!"

Pikachu, Misty and Brock held back laughter as Ash just smirked. Without hesitation, he told Tauros to use take Down while Camoron was still distracted. Tauros charged at Lucario, who grabbed it at the request of its trainer. Ash immediately called for a Fire Blast, which shocked Lucario and Camoron. Tauros opened its mouth and sent out flames the shape of an outstretched person towards Lucario. Before it even snapped out of its initial distraction, the attack engulfed the Fighting/Steel type, burning it.

"That's the way, Tauros!" Ash encouraged, as the flames disappeared to reveal a charred Lucario, who fell over seconds later.

"That's it! Lucario is unable to battle, and since that was Camoron's last Pokemon, the winners are Tauros and Ash, from Pallet Town!" Brock and Misty cheered, as a distraught Camoron yelled out, "WAIT!" He then released all of his Pokemon...who were still fainted. The boy hung his head. "How did he revive his Pokemon like that..."

"Great battle!" Ash called out to him, as Camoron tended to his Lucario.

"Thanks!" the shorts-wearer thanked him. "I think you could beat the guy on the top. He beat me pretty badly, but I think you can take him on."

"Who?" Yvonne looked confused.

"There's a guy all the way at the top, who just sits there, with a Pikachu by his side..." Camoron explained to her. Ash, who was making a couple of rotations with his Pokedex, couldn't hide his shock. "He just waits there, presumably for challengers. He managed to sweep me with just his Pikachu. Another guy with a bunch of Pokemon I've never seen before did better than me, but only got to his second Pokemon, Jigglypuff."

Ash, Misty and Brock couldn't help but giggle at the mention of Jigglypuff.

"It seems funny now...until you can't land a single hit on it!" Camoron yelled frantically.

Ash smiled. "Sounds like quite the challenge! You guys coming? After we pick up Larvitar, I'll see what this guy's all about!"

"Did you say Larvitar?" Camoron turned to Ash, who nodded. "Follow me!"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A few minutes later, Camoron led them to a fierce Tyranitar and her Larvitar child. Tyranitar at first tensed up, but then softened up upon seeing Ash, Misty and Brock.

"If you're wondering why it was roaring a while ago - that is, if you heard it - then it's because I...kinda tried to catch it..." Camoron told them. They all stole glances at each other.

"Larvitar, it's nice to see you again!" Misty cooed, as she came a bit closer to them.

"Larvitar!" it cried, as Brock did the same, and then fully opened his eyes, which were just circles with a dot in the middle of each one. Unlike years ago, Larvitar actually laughed at him, having warmed up to humans.

"Please tell me that Tyranitar is not his..." Yvonne repeated quietly, but not quiet enough, apparently.

"No, his Pokemon is Larvitar," Misty answered.

"That is, unless Larvitar evolved between the time we brought it back to its mother, and then - " Brock began, before Misty hit him on the head. "Brock, you're scaring her!"

"I-I was not scared!" the blonde retorted. Her Sableye just laughed at this in amusement.

Ash and Pikachu talked to Larvitar and its fully-evolved form for a bit, before the former slowly turned around. "Let's go on, he's waiting for us."

Yvonne came to his side. "Why did you come here? I thought you were going to bring back your Pokemon."

Ash looked at her. "Yeah, but look." He pointed to Larvitar, who seemed content just being with its mother. "He looks so happy with his mom."

"I still think you should take it," Yvonne began. "It wouldn't be where it is now without you, and it is your Pokemon. Aren't you sad?"

"Maybe, but it's really up to Larvitar if he wants to stay or not. I wouldn't like it if someone forcibly separated..." He glanced at Tyranitar once again. "...me from my mom. I at least owe it that much. It's pretty sad for me, but if it makes my Pokemon happy, that's what I'll do."

"That's pretty sweet," Yvonne admitted. "You really do care about Pokemon." She looked into his eyes and smiled at him. In the background, Misty gagged and Camoron snickered. Pikachu merely gave Ash the "thumbs-up" sign without so much as a "Pika!".

"What's so funny?" Yvonne quickly did an about-face formation to Camoron, who Misty was smiling at for some unknown reason.

"Nothing. Are we gonna go or not?" Camoron questioned, his hands over his mouth. They all nodded, said their goodbyes to the two part-Rock type Pokemon, and started to go higher up Mt. Silver."

"Why's that Larvitar following us!?" Camoron yelped, as they all turned back to see Larvitar running up to them.

"What is it?" Ash wanted to know, and at one fell swoop, it yanked his backpack, and started rummaged through it, when it suddenly turned into red energy and got sucked into it.

"Ash! Your backpack ate Larvitar!" Camoron shouted, as the others laughed at him. Ash slowly went towards his backpack, picked up everything, and then held up a Poke Ball. "All right, I caught...a Larvitar?" He declared.

"No, Larvitar caught itself," Yvonne responded to him flatly.

"Eh, it wouldn't be the first time," Misty chimed in.

"Yeah, like her Psyduck for example," Ash smirked at her.

Brock sighed. "Come on, do we really need to fight now? You two are supposed to be grown up."

"Keywords: supposed to be," replied Misty. "At least, for Ash."

"I'M SERIOUS! KNOCK IT OFF!" Brock yelled out in pure frustration. "I swear, I'm taking care of two big babies..."

"I could help you out next time," Yvonne offered, bringing Brock to an odd silence. "...Was it something I said?"

"Pika/Azurill/Fur..."

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

They soon found themselves on the summit of Mt. Silver, facing someone similar to Ash. The brown-haired boy had a red baseball hat with half of a white Poke Ball symbol on it, a black shirt with a red vest with a light blue badge on it, blue jeans, red and black shoes, and a yellow backpack. He was about the same height as Ash, maybe slightly taller. On his side was a slightly bigger Pikachu than Ash's wearing a blue party hat on its head.

"That's him?" Misty wanted to know for sure. Camoron nodded as Ash went closer to him.

"Good luck, we believe in you," Brock encouraged his friend.

"You can do it!" Misty/Yvonne added in at the same time.

"Kick his butt, okay?" Camoron told Ash quietly.

"Thanks, everyone. And to Camoron, I'll kick his butt _twice_ as hard as yours," Ash grinned, before turning back to the battlefield. Both of them held out a Poke Ball at the same time, in the same manner. It was almost like looking into a mirror, only it reflected Ash only. They both then threw it.

"Go, Ivysaur/Bulbasaur!" They both released the Pokemon of their choice: Bulbasaur for Ash, and Ivysaur for the mysterious trainer. Without a word, Ivysaur glowed a light-green.

"That's Synthesis, but why now?" Yvonne questioned, but she soon got her answer when Ash's Poke Balls all glowed.

"He's healing his Pokemon so they'll have a fair fight," Camoron informed them.

When the glow disappeared, Ash's opponent immediately tipped his hat. Ivysaur ran towards its pre-evolved form, initiating the first move...

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

**CREDITS**

**Back to Basics**

**Creator: marioluigifan05**

**Theme Song: Jason Paige **

**4Kids Entertainment **

**Voices**

**Ash, Delia: Veronica Taylor**

**Brock: Eric Stuart**

**Professor Oak: Stan Hart**

**Tracey: Ted Lewis**

**Misty: Rachael Lillis**

**Pikachu: Ikue Otani**

**Yvonne: Rachael Lillis**


	8. Chapter 8

Here's chapter 8!

**NOTE: I know this might have more errors than before, but most of it was typed on a phone. Also, the format might look a little weird, even though it looks just fine on my phone. Feel free to point out any and all formatting, spelling, grammar, etc. errors.**

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"Battle of Reflections of the Past"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"Bayleef, Razor Leaf!" Ash commanded, as his Pokemon rotated her head and sent leaves at the running Ivysaur, who did a short hop and dodged them.

Ash pointed at Ivysaur. "Vine Whip, get it away!" Bayleef extended two of its vines, and Ivysaur did the same. Ivysaur's vines grabbed Bayleef's and pulled it closer, shocking everyone. No one said a word as Ivysaur hurled Bayleef to the air, jumped over it, and shot spores at Bayleef, who was sent crashing on the ground. Ivysaur came descending down, hurling Razor Leaves from its seed at the same time.

"Bayleef, Counter Shield, now!" If Ash's opponent was going to give silent commands, then he was going to give cryptically named ones. The middle-stage Johto starter spun on its back as it sent multiple Razor Leaf attacks in a spiraling motion, not only deflecting leaf attacks, but stopping it from body slamming on Bayleef. Ivysaur was sent flying. The Johto Pokemon didn't stop using it, as it stood up and continued the attack. But then Ivysaur did  
something that no one expected. It jumped through the improvised Grass-type attack like an acrobat through a flaming hoop and spun around like a hovering top. Even when Bayleef redirected it, the spinning move rendered the attack null and void.

"Reflect!" Ash shouted, as a clear light blue wall appeared in front of Bayleef, protecting her from Ivysaur, who stopped its attack and landed nimbly on the ground. Without a command, Ivysaur reared its head back, its vines glued to the ground, and then headbutted the wall, shattering it into pieces.

"NO!" cried Ash, as Bayleef was tripped by a vine. Ivysaur, again for its part, jumped over Bayleef. It then cracked a vine towards Bayleef like a whip. The Johto Grass type rolled out of the way, but was then hit by leaves. It didn't hurt it, but distracted it enough to take another uncharged Solar Beam to the head. Bayleef cried out in pain as Ivysaur charged up a Solar Beam.

Ash gritted his teeth as the ball of light on Ivysaur's seed got bigger. What would he do? He doubted Light Screen would deflect all of it. That's when his mind flashed back to a past event...

_The Whirl Cup, Johto_

_Ash's Totodile was up against Christopher's_ _Kingdra. Nothing Ash tried was working. When all_ _hope seemed lost, Chris's Kingdra prepared for_ _another Hydro Pump attack, Totodile bit its snout,_ _which caused it to inflate full of water. Kingdra was_ _then sent flying everywhere, resulting in its defeat._

Back in the present, Ash grinned at his opponent, before telling Bayleef to clog up Ivysaur's seed. Everyone seemed shocked as Bayleef wrapped its vine around the base of Ivysaur's seed, causing it to expand. Ivysaur tried everything from Razor Leaf to Vine Whip to physical attacks to get it to let go, but Bayleef's endurance was steel-like and its grip was strong.

Ash thrust his arm to the side as the seed expanded to the size of Brock's head. "Let go!" Bayleef immediately let go as the inside of the seed exploded in solar energy, causing the beam to shoot out aimlessly. The explosion did a lot of damage to Ivysaur. Ivysaur used Synthesis to try and heal itself up, but it didn't get to finish as Bayleef rammed into Ivysaur, taking it down once and for all.

"Ivysaur can't battle anymore, Bayleef wins!" Yvonne announced. This time, she decided to be the referee.

"One down, five to go!" Ash cheered, as hisopponent recalled Ivysaur and sent out Jigglypuff. It was wearing a green headband and a yellow crown with red gems. The pink Pokemon hovered towards Bayleef, who again used Reflect.

"Razor Leaf again!" Ash called, as Bayleef rotated its head again. Jigglypuff weaved through all of the leaves, effortlessly avoiding them. Bayleef's next move was Vine Whip, which Jigglypuff casually kicked away. By then, the Reflect had already worn off.

"Tackle it!" Bayleef tried to ram into its opponent, who inflated itself to the size of Brock's chest, before sending it flying. The Balloon Pokemon hovered towards it and spun around, its feet kicking its head multiple times. Bayleef groaned as Jigglypuff drilled into its head with its powerful legs. Its head seemed to be a favorite target of its  
opponents today. Ash yelled for a Body Slam attack, but Jigglypuff rammed into it while spitting flames at it, not only burning it, but hurling it on a rock (based on Jigglypuff's Down B move).

"Bayleef can't battle anymore, Jigglypuff wins!" Yvonne announced, as Ash recalled Bayleef. They were about even now. But Ash was going to turn the tides right now.

"Okay, Pignite, I choose you!" Ash declared sharply, as he sent out the Fire/Fighting pig Pokemon. It roared at Jigglypuff, who didn't look phased in the least.

Ash made the first move. "Pignite, use Flame Charge!" Pignite cloaked itself in fire before charging at Jigglypuff, who merely flew above the attack.

"Rock Slide, now!" A clear portal materialized from above everyone as giant boulders rained down on Jigglypuff, who again dodged them. Whichever ones she couldn't dodge, she broke them with karate moves. A light bulb flashed in Ash's head...

"Pignite, jump and use Arm Thrust!" In the blink of an eye, Pignite jumped from boulder to boulder, confusing everyone. Thanks to its increased speed, it leaped towards its opponent in a matter of seconds, thrusting it with its arm and crashing it on a rock. Pignite jumped towards it again and thrust it with another arm, sending it upward this time. The Fire/Fighting type went in for the attack again, but Jigglypuff sang, putting it to sleep on a stone. Because of that distraction, a couple of rocks fell on it, forcing it on the ground. It got back up and began slapping, kicking, and ramming on Pignite.

"Pignite, wake up!" Ash cried, as his Pokemon was hit on the cheek by a particularly nasty slap. Seeing as it wasn't waking up, Ash held out a Pokeball and sucked it into a red light. "Return!"

He took out his next Poke Ball and stared at it for a while. For some odd reason, Iris came to his mind. She was a black girl with poofy purple hair, and a yellow, pink and white outfit. With Axew (Fraxure by the end of Ash's Unova journey) by her side, she aspired to be a Dragon Master. Immediately after Iris popped into his head, another, certain green-haired person then came to his thoughts. He shrugged it off quickly, not wanting to think about him, and tossed the Poke Ball to the field.

"Glalie, I choose you!" The Face Pokemon emerged, expressionless as usual.

Ash's mind then drifted again, this time to his two traveling companions of Hoenn, May and Max. He wondered how May was doing in Johto, and how much progress Max had made as a trainer now that he was old enough to have his own Pokemon.

To snap him out of his thoughts, Jigglypuff spat flames from its mouth and aimed them at Glalie.  
Ash cheered inwardly as he shouted, "Water Pulse!" The pulse of water was used as a defense against  
the flamethrower. The collision of the two attacks resulted in steam covering the arena.

"Gyro Ball!" Glalie took on a metallic shine and spun around, collecting all of the steam and revealing  
Jigglypuff launching towards it. The balloon floated out of the way at the last second, landed on the  
ground, and curled up. It then rolled towards Glalie.

Ash looked on in horror. "That's Rollout, use Ice Beam!" Glalie unleashed a beam of ice in front of  
Jigglypuff, who moved out of the way while still rolling towards Glalie.

"Gyro Ball again!" Glalie span around in place, releasing the steam in its holes, heating up the field  
again, and also slowing down Jigglypuff, and eventually stopping it in place. Ash then told Glalie  
to use Headbutt and it crashed itself on its opponent. As soon as it made contact, though,  
Glalie found itself lit up in flames and flying on the ground. Both of them were struggling to get up, but  
in the end, they both fainted.

"Both sides are down, it's a tie!" Yvonne cried.

Jigglypuff and Glalie were soon replaced with Squirtle and Buizel. Ash looked at Buizel for a few moments, his mind drifting to Dawn, his traveling companion in Sinnoh. She aspired to be a Top Coordinator.

"Squirtle vs. Buizel, begin!" Brock announced.

"Buizel, Sonic Boom!" Buizel swished its tails towards Squirtle and sent sonic waves towards the  
Kanto Water-type starter, who nimbly dodged them without a sweat. It then quickly ran towards Buizel  
while still dodging Sonic Booms, all without losing its speed. In one swift motion, it halted immediately  
and slapped Buizel with its tail.

_That Squirtle's fast..._ Ash thought, as Squirtle did a kickflip on Buizel, sending it up. He watched as Squirtle jumped towards the airborne Buizel and called, "Inflate!"

"Inflate? Does he mean Swallow or Stockpile?" Yvonne wondered. "I don't think Buizel can learn  
any of those moves."

Her question was answered as Buizel inflated its floatation tube and sent Squirtle away from it, but  
that just made Squirtle even faster as it deftly landed on a boulder and used Skull Bash on  
Buizel's head, taking care to avoid the tube.

"Ash, watch out! One more hit like that, and Buizel's out!" Brock pointed out. He was right. Buizel didn't  
look like he could survive another hit. Squirtle ran towards it again, but Buizel was ready this time. It  
cloaked itself in water and prepared to ram at Squirtle, who used Withdraw to minimize the  
damage it took. Buizel tried it once again, but Squirtle, still in its shell, slid away. Ash smiled  
widely.

"Pursuit!" Buizel, defying all logic, canceled its initial move and tackled Squirtle with lightning  
speed. It then followed up with another Pursuit, hitting it once again, before it went through a red  
beam of light. The party hat-wearing Pikachu eagerly ran to the battlefield, and without warning,  
launched a powerful blinding Thunder attack at Buizel, taking it down in one hit.

"Whoa...just as soon as the match between Buizel and Pikachu began, it ended in Pikachu's favor!"  
Brock announced.

"Is that even fair...?" Yvonne began. "The match didn't even begin, and he attacked without  
warning." Even Ash's opponent seemed to agree with this assessment as he knelt down and pointed  
at Pikachu a few times. His Pikachu let out an apologetic squeal, and then turned back to Ash. Its  
trainer got back up and smiled. Ash threw another Poke Ball and sent out a large cream colored  
Pokemon known as Snorlax. The Pikachu he was facing merely looked up at him.

"H-He has a lot of sca...big Pokemon," Yvonne commented.

"Not that many," Brock reminded her.

Pikachu dashed at Snorlax and aimed for a Quick Attack, but faked out at the last minute and  
swished to the side. The electric type seemed to be teleporting for each step it took. Leaving electric  
trails in its wake, Pikachu confused Snorlax to the point where it couldn't move.

"Snorlax, you know what to do!" Ash commanded. The bulky Pokemon did know. Snorlax jumped high  
into the air, shocking Pikachu for a moment, before it moved out of the way of the Body Slam attack.  
Snorlax left tremors in the wake of its Body Slam attack, forcing Pikachu to jump to avoid it. At the  
apex of its jump, it unleashed a Thunder attack, which Snorlax was absorbing as it was getting up.  
At the same time, it ran towards Snorlax and flipped into the air, striking it in the face with its tail. As it  
landed on the ground, it used Quick Attack to get away from an Ice Punch, which meant Snorlax only  
punched an Electric trail. Pikachu then "warped" behind Snorlax and prepared for an uncharged  
Skull Bash. Ash's mind quickly flashed to an early match once again...

_Violet City Gym, Johto_

_Falkner's Pidgeot was up against Ash's Charizard._  
_The fully evolved fire starter had trouble even_  
_hitting Pidgeot, who just kept appearing behind_  
_Charizard, dodging whatever attack it was trying to_  
_hit it with, before using Quick Attack. Pidgeot would_  
_do this over and over again, until Ash had Charizard_  
_used Flamethrower...after turning around. It had_  
_worked, and so Ash and Charizard then went on to_  
_secure the victory._

Granted, he thought of it only a moment, but it was enough time. He knew he only had one chance to  
even hit the small mouse.

Ash thrust his arm to the side. "Turn around and punch!" Snorlax covered his hand in ice, turned  
around, and punched Pikachu with its ice covered fist, which overpowered the Skull Bash. It was  
enough to send Pikachu back a few feet. It was going to land on a jagged boulder, but at the last  
second, it flipped around and shattered the boulder with its tail, ensuring a safe landing. It ran towards  
Snorlax and jumped, before unleashing three small jolts of electricity at Snorlax. It jumped high over  
the attacks.

Pikachu then dashed under Snorlax, let out a light squeal, and then got out of the way. A dark  
thundercloud appeared above the airborne Snorlax, and a huge ray of thunder came out of it, striking  
the Sleeping Pokemon head on. The rest of them were too shocked to even say a word as Snorlax  
landed on its feet harmlessly. Static electricity crackled around it.

"It's paralyzed! This is bad!" Brock told everyone in worry.

"Rest!" Ash called, as Snorlax laid on its back, avoiding another tail attack from Pikachu, who landed on Snorlax's stomach.

"Bad move..." Yvonne commented. "Snorlax is vulnerable while in sleep mode." Pikachu did a  
break dance-like move (Note: Based on Pikachu's Smash Down A move, NOT Counter Shield!), beginning to  
form electricity around it, but a loud snore from Snorlax forced it off of it.

"Now, Sleep Talk!" Ash raised his voice. Snorlax murmured in its sleep a few times before punching  
Pikachu with Ice Punch again. A few patches of ice actually formed around it. At that moment, Snorlax  
woke up, fully healed and unparalyzed.

"Pikachu's frozen! Now, finish it off with Hyper Beam!" Victory for Ash was just seconds away as  
Snorlax's open mouth was forming an orange orb of energy, which then became a large beam headed  
towards Pikachu, who was being covered in electricity. The ice patches around it shattered as it  
ran towards the beam, still covered in lightning.

Ash smiled; it didn't look any stronger than his own Pikachu's Volt Tackle. "You can do it Snorlax!" But  
just as the beam was about to reach Pikachu, the electric type slowly rose in the air, becoming a large  
blue ball of electricity. The Hyper Beam missed the crackling orb by inches. Pikachu flew around  
Snorlax, hitting it each time it passed by him.

"How did Volt Tackle..." Yvonne, just as shocked as the rest of them, scanned her Pokedex for that move.

Unfortunately for Snorlax, it had to recharge, so it could only stand there as the powerful attack  
struck it multiple times. By the time the blue thunder disappeared, Snorlax was completely  
charred. To add insult to injury, Pikachu stood on Snorlax's head and tapped it with its tail, sending it  
to the ground. Pikachu fist pumped on Snorlax as Misty flabbergastedly declared the winner/loser.

"Thanks, Snorlax, you were great." Ash returned the large Snorlax, and tried to decide between the  
sleeping Pignite and his own Pikachu. Next to him, Pikachu growled at Ash's opponent as his cheeks  
sparked.

"Looks like Pikachu wants to prove itself," Misty stated.

"Are you ready, Pikachu?" Ash questioned him. To answer the question, Pikachu dashed in front of  
him. Ash's opponent's Pikachu returned back to its trainer, who threw another Poke Ball containing a  
familiar Fire/Flying type: Charizard!

"Ash really has his work cut out for him..." Misty stated, before Charizard flew towards Pikachu, gliding with its fangs bared.

"Quick Attack!" Ash commanded, as Pikachu zipped away from Charizard, who turned around  
and spat flames at Pikachu, who nimbly avoided it. It lightly tackled Charizard in the gut, but just as it  
made contact, it covered itself in flames and leaped up, sending Pikachu soaring and doing damage to  
it. It then flew upward and attempted to slash it, but-

"Use Iron Tail!" Pikachu turned around a few times before its metallic tail clashed with Charizard's claws. Its trainer gave a few gestures, before its fiery tail wrapped around the small electric type, stopping it from landing. It opened its giant maw, and found itself numbed by electricity. Static had kicked in!

Ash breathed a sigh of relief as he had Pikachu shoot a large stream of thunder at the fire type,  
forcing it to let go of it. Both of them landed on their feet as Pikachu went in for another Quick Attack,  
but unfortunately, Charizard was able to overcome its paralysis and swing its flaming tail at the mouse  
Pokemon like a bat.

"Electro Ball, now!" Ash yelled out, as a ball of electricity formed on the tip of its tail. It quickly  
righted itself in the air before launching it at Charizard, who glided around it.

"One more time!" Ash requested, as his starter repeated its course of action, and Charizard dodged  
it again. This went on for a while until Pikachu formed a particularly large Electro Ball on its tail. By  
the time it was done expanding, it was nearly three times the size of Pikachu. Charizard stopped in  
shock (both literally and figuratively) as it took the particularly large variation of the attack head on. It  
tucked in its wings as it braced itself for a crash landing.

"Finish it with Thunderbolt!" Pikachu formed a lance of thunder and aimed it at Charizard, who  
was flying closer to it.

Before Ash could even wonder why it was flying closer to the attack, it lifted a giant boulder to the ground while still flying and smashed it into pieces which flew towards the attack. The shards collided with the bolt, causing a large explosion. Everyone had to brace themselves as debris was scattered

everywhere. The smoke was quickly blown towards Pikachu, who coughed as the cloud of smoke  
surrounded him. A split second later, Pikachu felt giant talons hurl it into the air, above the smoke. It  
quickly looked up to see Charizard preparing for a Seismic Toss!

"Pikachu, bite your way out of there!" Ash instructed, as it bit the offending talons and  
loosened Charizard's grip on it. It started to fall once again as Charizard flew after it. Pikachu  
quickly landed on the ground again as its opponent covered itself in flames and charged at Pikachu,  
who was more than prepared for it. His trainer only had to say one word to get his point across.

"Spin!"

It jumped over the fiery flier and spun around, thus spinning above it and avoiding the attack.  
Charizard had to make an abrupt stop...and take another Thunderbolt. The winged beast toppled  
over, but still had some fight left in it. The flame on its tail suddenly turned a whitish-blue, merging  
with the red aura that was around its body. Pikachu took a few steps back as Charizard slowly got back  
up, albeit barely.

"That's Blaze," Ash murmured to himself. "Pikachu, return! I'll need you for later!" Pikachu rushed to his side as he sent back out Pignite. It immediately woke up to the smell of Charizard's tail flame, looking eager to take on the fully evolved fire starter.

"Pignite, use Brick Break!" was Ash's answer to Charizard picking up a boulder. Pignite smashed it  
before anything else could be done with it. Pignite then followed up with another Brick Break, which it  
dodged by swerving to the side, but that only made things worse for it.

"Scald!" A large amount of boiling hot water came out of its mouth and hit Charizard dead on.

"Go, Ash! You can do it!" Misty cheered, as paralysis kicked in for Charizard yet again, causing  
it to get hit with another Scald.

"You're on the right track!" Brock added in, when a whitish-blue Flare Blitz from the Fire/Flying type  
was avoided unexpectedly with Pignite using Brick Break to carve a hole in the ground and duck the  
attack.

"Beat him!" Camoron chimed in as Charizard toppled over thanks to another Scald attack, paralysis hindering it.

"And the winner is Pignite!" Yvonne announced happily, as Ash turned his hat backwards.

"You did it!" Ash whooped in delight, as Charizard was recalled and replaced with Pikachu. It  
immediately wreathed itself in electricity and ran towards Pignite, who dug another hole with Brick  
Break on Ash's command and hid under there to avoid it. Just like with Snorlax before, it turned into  
a hovering blue ball, flailing wildly in the air...until a few seconds later, when it dived down into the hole.

"Jump out and use Fire Pledge!" Ash yelled, but it was too late. Pignite had already been hit and down  
for the count.

"Pignite is unable to battle, the winner is Pikachu!" Brock declared, as Ash recalled a distraught Pignite.

"Pikachu, you're my last hope. Ready to beat the rest of them?" Ash smiled at his very first Pokemon,  
who got on his field, ready to show the bigger Pikachu a thing or two. The large Pikachu shot a  
weak jolt of electricity at Ash's Pikachu, before running back to its trainer. The boy then threw a  
Poke Ball high in the air.

"Pikachu, look out," Ash warned him, as the electric type scanned the sky. Pikachu then heard the  
sound of a Poke Ball opening, and prepared to dash away from any attacks.

A deep voice boomed in the air, _Watch the power of aura._

The next thing they saw was a large blast of light blue energy that descended from the sky to the  
battlefield. Pikachu tried desperately to avoid it, but fatigue eventually took over it and allowed it to get  
hit by the powerful attack.

"I-I've never seen that move before!" Brock was alarmed.

"Pikachu, no!" Misty shouted in worry as it fell over, clearly battered by whatever that move was.

Yvonne could barely muster herself to announce the winner/loser, but managed to anyway. Ash ran  
up to Pikachu and picked him up. "Thanks for everything. You were great. I-I couldn't have - "

The person he had just lost to recalled his unseen Pokemon from the sky and sent out Ivysaur, who  
shook its flower a few times. A lime green aura emanated from its seed and washed over it, as well  
as the two Pikachu, who were getting along just fine, and the rest of the Pokemon in their Poke  
Balls. The aura eventually faded as he then sucked the grass type in its ball and sent out Jigglypuff.

"It's not gonna sing, is it?" Brock asked in worry.

Jigglypuff took the top off its marker, worrying them at first, but it wrote on the surface: "Where  
would you like to go?"

"Saffron City," Ash answered, not feeling particularly enthusiastic. Squirtle was sent out to  
wash away the ink from the summit as Ash and his friends suddenly felt lightheaded.

"PUFF!"

The next thing they knew, they were transported in front of the Saffron City Gym. To save them more  
time, Sabrina just happened to be exiting it.

"I told you that Jigglypuff was scary!" Camoron shouted.

"I have to remember to thank it someday, for it brought us one -" Brock's confession was  
interrupted by Misty, who yanked his ear.

"Sabrina, do you still have - " Ash began, but was interrupted.

"Yes, I still have Haunter," she responded, shocking him. Had he really been that predictable?  
Then again, why else would he come there?

"You seem to forget who I am." Sabrina chuckled, as she handed him a Poke Ball.

"Thanks." Ash smiled at her.

"I sense your plight," Sabrina went on, shocking him yet again. Her psychic abilities never ceased to  
amaze him.

"It's really nothing," Ash lied through his teeth.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," the woman interjected, as Ash found himself feeling  
lightheaded again. He and the others were then transported in front of a building, which Ash, Misty  
and Brock recognized as the P1 Grand Prix.

Yvonne pouted. "I didn't even get a chance to talk to her! Now I have to wait until the World  
Tournament...and what is this place?"

Ash ignored her question and looked around to see a well-built man exercising with two Pokemon: A  
Hitmonchan and a Primeape. _His_ Primeape.

"Hey, Ash, is that you?" the man asked him, adjusting his red scarf.

"Yup! Nice to see you again, Anthony!" Ash greeted.

"I'm guessing you're here for your Primeape?" Anthony guessed, and Ash nodded.

"I think he'd be better off back with you, anyway," Anthony told Ash. Primeape and Hitmonchan  
nodded in agreement as Ash took out his Poke Ball and placed it on the pig monkey Pokemon, sucking  
it in. It stayed in without a struggle.

"Welcome back to the team, Primeape and Haunter," Ash mouthed to his Poke Balls.

"Haunter?" Anthony was confused until Yvonne explained to him.

With everything settled, they all said their goodbyes, except for Camoton, who decided to stay  
behind and train his Lucario in the P1 Grand Prix.

"Tell Rebecca I said - " Brock began, but this time, instead of being dragged by Misty, he was dragged  
away by Croagunk.

"That's a new one," Yvonne commented, as Misty looked at the Poison/Fighting type in amusement.  
She then looked to Ash, who hadn't said a word since they left Anthony.

"Anything the matter?" she interrogated him.

Ash looked away from her. "Not really...I just missed Anthony." They all knew he was lying.  
Before they could even say anything, they heard calling, followed by engine sounds behind them.

"Guess who?" a familiar voice called. Ash didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

"You're looking down in the dumps," the voice continued. "I have to say that's an improvement  
over your usual look."

Yvonne groaned. "Another Paul?"

"It's a long story," Misty told her, as Ash turned to his longtime neighbor, Gary Oak. He had a smug  
smile on his face as he got back in his limousine.

"But still not good enough for the Pokemon World Tournament. Later!" he called, driving off. Ash and Pikachu fought the urge to wail on his vehicle. The rest of them continued on, with all of their attempts to cheer Ash up failing.

That night, Ash barely touched his dinner. He was still upset over his loss to the stranger on top of the  
mountain. He left his half-full plate behind and went straight into the tent with Pikachu, going  
straight to sleep.

"Poor Ash, he must be still mad over that loss," Brock stated. "And Gary isn't helping matters at all."

"I hate seeing him so sad, but what can we do?" Misty wanted to know.

Yvonne and Froakie shrugged.

"Furret. Fur!" Furret articulated.

"I sure hope so..." Brock responded.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

The next day, Ash got up and rushed out of his tent, his stomach growling. The smell of Brock's cooking  
alerted him. As he rushed to get a bowl, Brock yanked it away from him.

"Hey! What gives?" Ash demanded.

"Ash...they have something they'd like to tell you," Yvonne informed him. Today, she was wearing a blue and white jacket under a black blouse, a matching black dress, and blue high heels. She didn't don her hat today. Brock was wearing the outfit that he wore back in Sinnoh, and Misty was wearing the outfit that Ash remembered her in when they met in Hoenn. Ash sniffed the air a few times, before chuckling a little.

"Brock...I think your food's burning," Ash began, before turning to the campfire beside him. He saw halfway charred clothes over the fire. Ash managed to make out a yellow blouse with red suspenders, blue shorts, red and white shoes, an orange shirt, brown pants, a green vest, and white and blue shoes. His eyes widened as he realized their outfits were being burned, and they didn't seem to care.

"Ash...both of us have talked it over last night..." Brock began. "And we realized you're just holding us back."

"Talked what over? And what do you mean, holding you back?!" Ash retorted.

"What he's saying is that you suck," Misty reiterated. "You've been through five regional  
leagues, and you haven't made the finals in any of them. Each time, you lose again and again."

Ash found himself speechless, even as Brock continued the tirade. "Without you, we'd have been closer to our goals! Traveling with you just to watch you fail was a waste!"

"But...but - " Ash stammered.

"I became a doctor when I was _away_ from you, and Misty could have been closer to her goal if she  
didn't have to watch you in the background. And what about the others you've traveled with? See how much they've accomplished now that you're not there to hold them back?"

Misty scowled. "You can't accomplish a thing, so you have to drag other people down with you, huh? No more! Come on, guys, we're leaving this wannabe Pokemon Master!"

Her last three words went through his mind like a broken record. Usually, she only ever said that about him during their little arguments, but now she was using those words to bring him down. And maybe they were true...

_Wannabe Pokemon Master...wannabe Pokemon_ _Master..._

He even started repeating them to himself as the three of them left in Gary's limousine.

Everyone, except for Yvonne (or at least he couldn't hear her voice over everyone else's), chanted this lame rhyme: "Gary, Gary, he was here! Ash is a loser, didn't you hear?" No matter how far they went off, the words still rang in his ear, along with Misty's previous insult. He couldn't believe that his friends just up and left with Gary and his cheerleaders.

"Well...at least you're around." Ash sadly and slowly turned to Pikachu, who shocked him -

Ash woke up, sweating bullets. Pikachu had shocked him awake from a terrible dream. He breathed a sigh of relief; it was all just a dream...

He came out his tent to see his friends setting up camp. Yvonne was wearing her trademark outfit  
and not the one she wore in his nightmare...no, "nightmare" was an understatement.

He took in her outfit for a few minutes, trying to erase that other one out of his mind.

Yvonne was confused. "What is it?"

Ash shook his head a few times. "Oh, it's nothing." He forced himself to laugh.

"A compliment on my style would be nice, you know," the blonde mused.

Misty was fuming as Brock blurted out, "I think there's more to you than meets his eye." He grinned at Ash's direction. "He's never been very good at this type of stuff. He might not be sure of his feelings towards you..."

"Maybe not, but I'm sure you're an absolute nutcase!" Ash retorted.

Brock put a thumb up. "See? He admits it."

Both Ash and Misty kicked him to the side. "Perhaps he leans more towards Misty..." He muttered.

"Right..." Yvonne went into her tent and didn't come out for the rest of the night. Misty turned to Brock and helped him up.

"He seems to be back to his old self for now, at least," Misty told him, as Ash went back to his tent.

~~~ GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

The real next day started off much like Ash's dream, but with minor differences. He woke up to the smell of jelly filled donuts and oatmeal, not soup. Most notably, none of them said anything bad to or about him, and there was no Gary. Yvonne came out of her tent with a different outfit. She was now wearing a red and black hat similar to  
her trademark headwear, but with a green symbol on it. Her jacket was blue with a white collar and a white symbol on the bottom of the front side. It had a yellow button on it, too. She had on a black shirt inside. She also wore a matching blue dress, dark blue knee-high socks, and blue flats with black bottoms.

They all stared at her in shock. Ash, in particular, looked flabbergasted. "Where did you get that from?" he whispered, but she had heard him.

"My hometown has a few malls, so I go shopping every once in a while," she answered.

"Ripoff," Ash whispered to Pikachu.

"Pika."

"This one was actually quite cheap." The foreigner sat next to Ash and Brock and took a bite out of a  
donut. Ash was a little more excited about eating, but he was still quiet as Misty and Yvonne  
chattered up a storm, and Brock bathed all of the Pokemon.

Ash looked to the sky, his hat blocking him from the hot rays of the sun. Yesterday's loss still ran  
through his mind. He had tried so hard, but one by one, his Pokemon all went down. He had let down  
not only them, but his friends. They had -

"Earth to Ash!" Brock's voice shattered his thoughts. "You're not still let down, are you?"

"I was just thinking," answered Ash. It wasn't a lie. He got up and left with his Pokemon.

"I didn't think he was still so upset," Yvonne stated.

"It's not easy for an aspiring Pokemon Master to lose like that," Misty told her. "Or anyone, for that  
matter. He did his best, but in the end, it didn't pay  
off. And, as stated before, Gary wasn't helping  
matters."

"I know the feeling," Yvonne mused.

"Electrode."

"Electrode's right. We have to bring him back!"  
Brock declared. They all stared at him.

"Just follow my lead."

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

CREDITS

Pokemon: Back to Basics

Creator: marioluigifan05

Theme Song: Jason Paige

4Kids Entertainment

Voices

Ash: Veronica Taylor

Brock: Eric Stuart

Misty: Rachael Lillis

Yvonne: Rachael Lillis

Pikachu: Ikue Otani


	9. Chapter 9

Here's chapter 9!

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(Theme)

"A Helping Hand on a Friend"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"Pika Pika, Pikachu?" The electric mouse stared up at Ash, who was sitting on a log. "I don't know, Pikachu...I could try again, but - " he began, before a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Ash!" Ash and Pikachu turned around to see Misty. "Is this seat taken?" Ash said nothing as Pikachu scampered into his arms, clearly signaling that Misty could sit there. She plopped herself next to him, and Pikachu jumped into her arms. It squealed happily. Ash couldn't help but smile at the sight, even though Pikachu's love for the Cerulean City Gym Leader had been the bane of his existence a few times in the past.

"Maybe you can watch Pikachu for - "

"Not so fast, Ash Ketchum!" shrieked Misty, causing Pikachu and Ash to recoil. "We need to talk!"

"H-Huh?" Ash stammered.

"Ash, you can't let one little loss get you down!" Misty began, before calming her voice a little bit.

"It's not the end of the world if you lose. Why are you so upset about it? You and your Pokemon tried your best, and that's what counts. We're all proud of you." Ash was now listening intently as Misty continued on, raising her voice a bit. "Losing doesn't let down the ones that care for you. Sitting on a log and sulking and not moving on does let us down! You're better than this! By sitting here moping, you're only proving you really don't want to be a Pokemon Master, or beat Gary! And I know more than anyone else, that you want to prove him wrong. Now, move on, or Gary automatically wins!"

Ash faced her and retorted, "Gary couldn't beat me if I only had Pikachu without electricity!" Pikachu grimaced slightly not wanting to be reminded of his first encounter with Zekrom, or his battle with Trip's Snivy.

Misty got up, faced him, and smirked. "No, but I could."

"Pikachu won't even battle you," Ash reminded her.

"No one said you had to use Pikachu...or are you just saying that because you know I'll beat you?" tainted Misty. As she expected, Ash immediately got up, holding Pikachu.

"Fine! I accept your challenge!" he shouted, getting on his side. "Just don't come running back to Cerulean Gym when you lose!"

"And you'd better not go back to your mom and sulk!" Misty countered, before throwing what she thought was a Poke Ball. "Go, Staryu!" A rock flew out of her hand and hit Ash on the head.

"Ow! What did you do that for?" Ash groaned, clutching his forehead, before Misty searched herself, only to see that all of her Poke Balls were replaced with rocks. "Hey! Where are my Poke Balls?"

As she stated to scan the ground, Ash asked her where Azurill and Froakie were. Misty turned pale as she roamed around the entire area, when she and Ash suddenly heard laughter from the bushes.

"Show yourself!" Ash demanded, but the identities of the people shocked him. One was a magenta-haired female with a miniskirt, boots, and a blouse with a red "R" on it. Her hair was shorter than Ash remembered. The other was a lavender-haired male with a similar outfit, only instead of a miniskirt and blouse, he wore a shirt and pants. His hair, too, was shorter than Ash remembered. He also seemed to have built a lot more muscle. If there was anyone he didn't want to see again, it was them. In fact, he thought he'd never see them again after Unova **(NOTE: Da! never happened)**.

"Team Rocket..." Ash growled. It seemed like he'd never be rid of the trio...and speaking of "trio", where was Meowth?

"You two just never quit, do you?" Misty scoffed.

"Prepare for trouble," the woman began, before she was interrupted.

"Wait! How come you always get the first line?" her companion complained.

"James, I told you before, it's in the script!" she bit back at him.

"But Jessie..." James began, as Ash and Misty glanced at each other. They merely watched as they continued their argument.

"I guess some things never change, huh, Ash?" Misty nudged him.

"Fine, we can deviate just this once," Jessie grumbled.

"Yes!" James cheered, before striking a dramatic pose. "Prepare for trouble, and minor rewrites!"

"Make it double, or we'll offer you the fight of your lives!" Jessie added.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite the peoples within our nation!"

"Cut!" James yelled. "It's all peoples, not the peoples!"

Ash looked baffled. It didn't seem to be that much of a problem before.

"James, you were the one complaining that you wanted a change!" Jessie argued back.

"I don't have time for this! Chespin, I choose you!" The Grass-type emerged from its ball and landed in front of Ash. "Use Rollout!"

"Ah-ah-ah," Jessie lectured, as a Meowth-shaped balloon emerged from the bushes where they were hiding earlier. The left side was covered with tape. Fennekin was keeping it floating with its ear flames. Under the balloon was a net which contained a bunch of Poke Balls, as well as Electrode, Furret, Azurill, and Froakie. Team Rocket jumped into the balloon.

"Our Pokemon!" Misty cried, as Pikachu's cheeks sparked.

"Halt that Thunderbolt, Pikachu," Ash told him, as he had Chespin use Bullet Seed.

"I'll play for a little while." Jessie threw a Poke Ball of her own, and out came a butterfly-like Pokemon with a white, black and grey body, antennas, and  
wings colored various shades of red with black outlines, as well as a little light blue. "Go, Vivillon!"

Oddly enough, Misty was unafraid, probably because it wasn't a creepy bug. Ash opened his Pokedex to scan it, but no data was found.

"Vivillon, Energy Ball!" The unknown Pokemon created a ball of green in front of its body, which absorbed the bullets. It then fired it at Chespin, who  
rolled to the side. Ash turned his hat backwards once more; he would not lose to another mysterious Pokemon.

"Vivillon, String Shot!" Jessie called, as it slowly wove a shot of string towards Chespin.

"Chespin, move to the side and shoot diagonally at the middle!" Ash hadn't been working with Chespin for very long, so he had to be specific in his  
commands. Chespin jumped to the side and shot a medium-sized seed at the center of the string, redirecting it away. Chespin repeated this a couple more times until Vivillon was trapped in its own string. Because it couldn't flap its wings anymore, it clumsily fell to the ground. While it was descending, Chespin curled up into a ball and rolled towards the grounded Bug/Flying type at the request of Ash.

"Vivillon, break that string!" The bug tried to bite through the string, but it proved to be too strong. It was forced to take multiple Rollout attacks in a row. Vivillon was sent flying towards Jessie, who grumbled and recalled it.

"We're not gonna take this one lying down!" James began. "Go -" A rock throw on the wrist interrupted him, causing him to drop the ball he was holding. "Ow! Not so hard, Mist -erm, I mean, twerps!" Indeed, Misty had thrown a rock at him.

"James, I told you using the big twerp's Furret to replace their Pokemon with_ hard rocks_ using Trick was a bad idea!" Jessie scolded him, as Chespin  
used Bullet Seed again to break the net.

"Well I told you we shouldn't have done this without Meowth!" James replied, as Froakie and Azurill used Bubblebeam on them. In addition to getting wet, their hair (and James's skin) seemed to...wash off? "James" turned out to have black hair, and his skin was revealed to be brown. "Jessie's" hair turned blonde. Misty was hardly surprised, but the same couldn't be said for Ash.

"...Brock? Yvonne?" he stammered. He had a lot of questions for them.

"Yup," Brock grinned, before picking up Pikachu. "Then again, we could also be wearing a disguise inside of a disgu - "

"CHUUUUUUUUU!"

"I tooold you weee should have made them electric proof," Brock said, before he and Yvonne fell over.

"Where did you get those outfits from? That balloon? Why did you do this?" Ash wanted to know.

"One question at a time," Yvonne chided. "As I said before, I go shopping. For the balloon, we found it lying in the woods, popped open." Now Ash knew why there was tape over the left side. "And to answer your last question, we wanted to be sure you wouldn't let anyone get in your way...except  
me, of course. My Vivillon went easy on that Chespin of yours."

Ash was riled up. "Did not, you're just saying that because you know I'm ten times the trainer you'll ever be!"

To change the subject, Brock asked: "You found Team Rocket outfits in a mall?" Yvonne shushed him for some odd reason. "So what now?" Misty inquired.

"Why don't we use this balloon?" Ash suggested. "It may not hold up for much longer, but while it lasts, it should be a good source of transportation."

"Finally you have a good idea," Misty muttered under her breath.

"That's more than I can say for you!" Ash shouted.

Brock yanked both of their ears and dragged them into the balloon wordlessly. Yvonne hopped in, and they soared high into the air.

"This is actually kinda fun," Ash admitted. "Now I know why Team Rocket liked using it so much."

Yvonne pointed behind her in fear. "Look out!" They turned around to see a dark grey flying scorpion-like Pokemon.

"It's headed towards us!" Ash cried, as it winked and its tongue out at them, and that's when Ash remembered that he had a Gliscor of his very own. "Wait a minute, its Gliscor!"

"Is every other wild Pokemon in your monopoly?" Yvonne wondered, as the Ground/Flying type flew closer to the balloon.

"No, wait, Gliscor, stop!" they all yelled, but it was too late. It landed on the balloon, its razor sharp claws poking holes in it, sending them blasting off all the way to Fuchsia City. All the while, Gliscor was following them.

"That did not feel good..." a dazed Yvonne mumbled. "Remind me never to listen to you again..." At the same time, Gliscor clutched onto Ash's head.

"Gliscor, let go!" Ash pleaded, as he grabbed it from his head. He then faced it towards Brock. "You remember Brock, right?" It nodded. "He then held them towards Misty and Yvonne. "Gliscor, this is Yvonne. And this is Misty." Now Gliscor and Misty were merely inches away from each other.

"Ash, get that thing away from me!" Misty shouted.

"Aw, come on, Mist, he likes yo - "

"Why don't you put it back in its ball?" Brock suggested, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Good idea." Ash used his Pokedex to deposit one of his Pokemon, before throwing Gliscor's Poke Ball high into the air. Gliscor flew upward and bumped  
into it. Ash caught it in midair.

"All right, I caught...a Gliscor!"

"Pikachu!"

They then stepped inside of the Pokemon Center, where they healed their Pokemon. After she was done, Brock clasped the nurse's hands and confessed his love. "Nurse Joy, my heart could use your professional healing too - "

Misty and Croagunk got ready to drag him away, but a voice from behind them called, "Are you done yet? Other people have to use the Pokemon Center! You're not the only ones in here, you know!" They all turned around to see a brown-haired boy with a red baseball cap with glasses on top. He had on a blue and white jacket, blue pants, and dark brown boots. Next to him was a black lion cub-like creature with a brown face, tail tip, paws and ears, as well as a scarlet nose and "mohawk".

"Can't you wait just five seconds?" Brock cut in, but the Pokemon growled at him. Ash tried to scan it, but again, it didn't work. They all moved out of the way except for Yvonne, who stood there in shock. She seemed to be at a loss for words, even as the boy ignored her and gave five of his Poke Balls to Nurse Joy. His Pokemon leaped on the desk in front of her, and she got to work. Croagunk stared up at the blonde.

"Earth to Yvonne!" the boy tried to get her attention.

"Xavier, you're here?" she asked him slowly, after a few seconds.

"They know each other!?" Ash and Misty yelled at the same time.

"Yep!" he answered. "Violet told me about the Pokemon World Tournament taking place here in a few weeks. She seemed really eager to get me that  
much closer to being a Pokemon Master!" He flashed a smile.

"Mrs. Violet," Yvonne corrected him.

"Wait, how do you two know each other?" Misty was curious.

"We're - " Yvonne began, before Nurse Joy's voice cut in with, "They're healed!"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Xavier told him, before turning to Yvonne, who announced, "That's my stepbrother. He's also -" She stopped when she saw Xavier's finger on his lip.

"Really?" Ash questioned.

"If you doubt me, you can always just ask Mrs. Violet," Yvonne answered, going to a videophone. She tapped a few buttons, before a middle-aged  
lady in a lab coat appeared on the screen. She had poofy purple hair and dark rings around her eyes. Next to her was a wrinkled yellow humanoid-like Pokemon holding a pendulum. It had a very bushy mane of snow white fur around its neck. It was possibly puffier than the lady's hair. Her room didn't look very organized, either.

"Professor Violet! Drowzee! Good morning!" Yvonne greeted.

"But that's a Hypno," Ash interjected.

"Its name is Drowzee!" the cranky professor shouted. "Who are you to talk about the names I give!" For each word that was said, Hypno teleported to either side of her.

"You could have just told me," Ash mumbled.

"Don't make me come over - sorry. May you introduce me to them?" Professor Violet requested.

"Right. This is Ash...Misty...and Brock," she pointed at each one, before sidestepping. "And you already know Xavier and Shishiko, the Litleo."

"Hey, Violet!" Xavier called to her, and Shishiko jumped in place.

"H-How did you get there!" the professor was freaked out. "And I am to be addressed formally!"

"Relax, toots, I just wanted to bring a new friend for Drowzee to play with, but I guess it'll have to wait," Xavier replied.

"Good! We don't want another one of your freak of nature ghosts wreaking havoc and burning everything!" Violet snapped, before holding on to her Hypno. She then looked up, before getting shocked again. "Oh, no, I'm gonna be late to the daycare!" She hastily ripped off her lab coat to reveal a rumpled white dress with frills. She then kicked off her dress shoes and replaced them with heels. "Sorry, guys, I have to go now! Drowzee, take me to the daycare!"

In a flash, they were out of the lab. Yvonne dropped the phone and glared at her stepbrother.

"Not my fault a professor, daycare woman, and a nurse can't take care of my Pokemon." The boy shrugged as he petted his Litleo.

"She's a nurse, too?" Brock looked downright mortified.

"She's a professor by day, a caretaker by midday, and a nurse at night," Yvonne answered (lol Barbie syndrome).

"Doesn't she ever sleep?" Misty wondered, as they all left the Pokemon Center. Shishiko jumped on Yvonne and licked her, causing her to shudder.  
Xavier grabbed it and placed it down.

"Let's find someone else to battle!" Xavier told his Pokemon, beginning to walk away.

"Wait, what does he mean someone else?" Brock interrogated.

"We've battled before," Yvonne addressed him.

"And?"

"Well..."

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

A younger Yvonne was particularly ecstatic after beating Pansy, the first gym leader. Her Fennekin's evolution only made it easier to beat Pansy, whose specialized type had the disadvantage against Fire types. She had crammed for the last couple of days preparing for the battle, and her studies had finally paid off. Nothing could have made her happier at that moment. She was now training her Froakie, hoping to push it to its next evolutionary stage, but the trainers were just too weak.

"Hey, Yvonne!" She heard footsteps from behind her. Without looking, she knew it was her stepbrother, Xavier Xander. His Litleo was next to him, too.

"Xavier! I see you found a way to go on a journey without a starter, huh?" Yvonne approached him. Xavier had annoyed Mrs. Violet so much the night  
before that she flat out refused to give him a starter Pokemon. The only reason she wasn't fired was because no one else in the small town of Vaniville  
was qualified enough. That aside, she did do her job well.

"Yeah! You didn't think I'd just stay at home, did you? I have to remember to thank Violet, because Shishiko here is far better than any starter  
anywhere, and so are my other Pokemon."

Yvonne smirked at him. "How about a battle? My Froakie needs a punching bag."

Xavier's eyes glinted in anticipation. "You want a punching bag, then go somewhere else. For a beatdown, you've come to just the right guy."

Yvonne's smirk split her face. Xavier was an even bigger fool than he realized if he thought he could beat her. Aside from Litleo, who had a  
disadvantage against her Froakie, she had already studied up on the common Pokemon in the first few routes. Whatever he sent out couldn't possibly  
stand a chance.

The boy tossed a Poke Ball at her. "Go, Yayakoma!" Out came a robin with an orange head, white body, small legs, a black beak, and a black feathered tail with a white V pattern in the middle. It stood up bravely and boldly, ready for battle. Just as Yvonne thought, Xavier sent out a common Fletchling. It  
looked well trained, to be sure, but it still wouldn't win.

"Froakie, Bubble!" Yvonne announced. Its fur pulsated and bubbled as it spit bubbles at Fletchling, who popped them with its beak.

"Quick Attack!" Froakie dashed at the robin with unexpected speed, but it was still able to avoid it. Yvonne stared at it tensely; this little bird was  
tougher than she thought.

"Quick Attack again!" Froakie once again zoomed at the robin, but this time, it growled at the Water starter. The attack landed on target, but didn't seem to do much at all. Yayakoma then cloaked itself in flames and hit Froakie with the attack. Its typing (plus protective fur) prevented it from taking much damage, but it still took a little regardless.

"Froakie, pound it!" Yvonne commanded, as Froakie ran towards its opponent and attempted to strike it down, but again, it was too fast. In fact, it was much faster than before.

"Froakie, keep using Bubblebeam until it hits!" A few minutes passed, but it still didn't land a hit.

"I can't thank you enough for giving Yayakoma the push it needed," Xavier smiled at her.

"What do you mean?" Yvonne's question was soon answered as Fletchling began to glow. She stood there in shock; that should have been her Pokemon evolving! His Pokemon was now a red-orange falcon with an orange-spotted grey underside. Its tail was now black and yellow, and its talons were yellow. In addition, its wing tips were black, and it had a "mask" around its eyes that matched its tail. Its still-black beak was now partly yellow.

"Thanks for giving me a Talonflame! And now, repay her with Brave Bird!" Xavier shouted excitedly. The newly-evolved Pokemon glowed in many different colors as it flew towards Froakie.

"Froakie, it's now a fire type, so dodge it with Quick Attack and take it down with Bubble!" Yvonne screamed in desperation, but she knew that the  
battle was over, even with Froakie's new type advantage. Froakie was too exhausted to do much else except take the Brave Bird headon. Yvonne rushed towards her now fainted Pokemon and recalled it. Xavier approached and extended his hand.

"Great battle!" His Litleo and Talonflame seemed to agree, but Yvonne didn't. How could he say that when he almost beat her no damage, and that was after his Pokemon evolved and gained a type disadvantage. She reluctantly took his hand, before letting go.

"I'll be heading to the first gym, see ya soon!" His Talonflame flew Shishiko and him up and away. Yvonne was left in her thoughts.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

"I see." Brock was deep in thought.

"So, Ash, how about a battle?" Xavier requested, and Ash instantly agreed. They each took their positions, with Yvonne as a referee.

"This is a one on one battle between Xavier Xander and Ash Ketchum! Begin!"

"Totodile, I choose you!" Ash called out the Johto water starter from his ball. It danced for a few seconds.

Xavier threw his Poke Ball. "Faiaro, go!" He sent out an unknown flying type. Ash, again, couldn't get any data.

"That's Talonflame," Yvonne informed him. "It's Flying, and also Fire, sorry to burst your bubble. bet you wish you'd have used Leavanny or something else."

Ash ignored this comment and made the first move. "Totodile, Scary Face!" His Pokemon made a face at its airborne opponent.

"Faiaro, close your eyes and use Flame Charge!" It closed its eyes as flames were wrapped around it. It then shot like a missile towards Totodile.

"Use Water Gun to put it out!" Ash called, as it unleashed a burst of water to put out the fire. Xavier had it go up before Totodile could bite on it. It then flew back towards Totodile, who Ash told to use Water Gun on the ground to avoid the attack.

"The air is Faiaro's specialty. Gotcha! Use Whirlwind!" Talonflame rapidly beat its wings as Totodile was trapped in the air. It found itself caught in the hot, powerful gusts.

"Totodile, just let the winds - " Before Ash could finish his command, Xavier looked to the side for a second. He saw a round blue Pokemon with four legs and a yellow cap with an antenna. It also had blushes on its cheeks. "A Surskit! Timeout! I gotta catch one! Faiaro, Shisjiko, let's go!" The three of them chased after the Surskit.

"Is that a water type?" Misty inched towards Ash and Brock.

"Yes, but - " they stammered, but Misty was already gone.

"I'm not going to be the one to tell her," Brock pointed out, as they all chased after Misty and Xavier.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

CREDITS

Pokemon: Back to Basics

Creator: marioluigifan05

Theme Song: Jason Paige

4Kids Entertainment

Voices

Ash: Veronica Taylor

Brock: Eric Stuart

Professor Violet: Kayzie Rogers

Misty: Rachael Lillis

Yvonne (young): Rachael Lillis

Yvonne (present): [s]Jimmy Zoppi[/s]

Xavier (young): Veronica Taylor

Xavier (current): Jason Griffith

Pikachu: Ikue Otani


	10. Chapter 10

Here's chapter 10 (Yes! No more formatting issues!)!

Also, for those who are wondering what happened to The Eye Sores of the Pokemon World, the staff took it down (more details on my profile). I still have each chapter saved, so it will be back, just not on this site.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

(Theme)

"The Mistresses of Disguise"

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Xavier and Misty chased after the Surskit, with the rest of them trailing behind. The Surskit turned around for a brief second, before unleashing a couple of bubbles from its mouth at them.

"Shishiko, charge through and use Take Down!" Xavier shouted, as his Litleo charged through the bubbles and rammed into the wild Pokemon, slamming it on a tree. Oddly enough, it didn't put up much more of a fight before closing its eyes. The whole time, Misty just stood there with a smile on her face.

"Why's Misty just standing there?" Ash was confused.

"I guess she decided she didn't want it after all," Yvonne theorized.

"No way..." Brock contradicted.

Xavier took out a Poke Ball and tossed it at Surskit, but a bubble from Misty's direction encompassed it, sending it hovering into the air. Xavier glared at Misty as Faiaro flew up to get it. Misty threw her own Poke Ball at Surskit and sucked it in.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

Ding.

"Yes! I got a Surskit!" Misty cried, turning to Froakie. "Thanks." Froakie had made the bubble which sabotaged Xavier's chances of catching it.

"That's not fair!" Xavier demanded. "I did all the work, and you just get it with no skill or effort!"

"Finders, keepers." Misty's smile grew wider as she turned to Ash. "Ash, can you scan it for me?"

Ash reluctantly took out his Pokedex and scanned it. "Surskit, the Pond Skater Pokemon. From the tips of its feet, it secretes an oil that enables it to walk on water as if it were skating. It feeds on microscopic organisms in ponds and lakes."

"Ash, aren't you going to scan its type?" Brock whispered.

"I already know its type," responded Ash.

"Yes, but she doesn't." Brock pointed at Misty, who was still celebrating her capture. Xavier was fuming.

Ash sighed as he pressed a few more buttons. His Pokedex called out, "Type: Water - "

"I know that already!" Misty complained, but the Pokedex cut her off with, "Slash Bug." Ash's hand, which was tightly gripping the device, sank into his pocket.

"B-B-Bug!?" Misty stammered, turning to Ash. "Ash Ketchum, why didn't you tell me?"

"We tried," Ash explained nervously. "But you just ran off...but hey, a Water type is a Water type!" Xavier couldn't help but laugh.

"All right, Misty, you caught your first Bug type!" congratulated a voice from above.

"No, it's not all right!" Misty shouted back. "I hate bugs!" They all ignored Misty's tirade and continued on. Soon after they got their Pokemon healed at a Pokemon Center, Misty forgot her initial anger and stared at a fountain.

_I could at least let it out for a bit,_ Misty thought, before throwing a Poke Ball. "Misty calls...Surskit!" The Water/Bug type materialized above the fountain and started to skate around on the water in circles.

"It's kinda cute...even if it is a bug..." she admitted, before hearing footsteps. At first, they paid no mind to it, but then they got louder. They also heard a voice yelling, "Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way!"

Ash sidestepped away from everyone else, as did Xavier. Ash turned to him. "You know her?" he questioned.

"Do I ever...she came asking me to protect her from a guy named - " Before he even finished, Yvonne, Misty, Azurill, Froakie, Brock, Electrode, Furret, and Fennekin were crashed into like bowling pins, falling into the fountain. Fennekin yowled in pain, and Brock began to nurse her. Surskit just skated around everyone, seemingly oblivious to what just went on. The crasher turned out to be a blonde wearing red glasses that seemed to be halfway cut off from the top, a lime green beret with a white bow, a black and white blouse, an orange jacket with shoes which had black bows on them, and green pants. She was also holding a green handbag.

"What was that for!?" Misty whined, as Bianca bowed to everyone she had crashed into. Brock glared at Ash for not warning them. Ash merely smiled at him.

"Sorry!" the girl cried out, as they all climbed out of the fountain. "I gotta go before he fines me!" As if on cue, a different pair of footsteps rang in their ears. Brock's Electrode sparked for a few moments before sending a small jolt of electricity towards the runner, paralyzing him for a while. It turned out to be a blonde haired boy with an orange and yellow shirt, a green scarf, grey pants, and brown shoes. He was holding a brown handbag.

"It's Barry," Ash mused quietly to himself.

Meanwhile, Bianca immediately rushed to Brock. "Oh, thank you so much for saving me! How can I ever repay you?"

"WAIT! You'd pay some guy you don't even know, but not even pay your fine!" Barry shouted at her, who turned to him. "That's unfair!" he continued.

"Uh-oh, this doesn't look good," Misty commented, and the next thing they knew, the two blondes were engaged in a battle. It was Barry's Empoleon vs Bianca's Emboar.

"The battle between these two will now begin!" Yvonne announced, as Misty gushed over Empoleon. At the same time, Brock discreetly led Ash and Xavier behind a bush.

"So, why did you take us here?" Xavier wanted to know.

"Because...tomorrow is Princess Day," Brock announced in a dramatic tone. Ash looked horrified, while Xavier looked confused. Brock explained the concept of Princess Day to him as best as he could.

"So they get a bunch of girls-only stuff, while we just stand there. What's so bad about that?" Xavier was still confused.

"It's worse than that," Brock cut him off. Ash grimaced. "Last time..." He then flashed back to the events of the Princess Day that took place five years ago. When he was finished, everyone had nervous looks on their faces.

"Pika..."

"Well, we can't just leave them," Xavier pointed out.

"Who says we have to leave?" Brock snickered, pointing to Yvonne.

"What about her?" Now Ash was confused, while Xavier seemed to be catching on. Ash then did a double take. "Hey, I told you before, I - "

Brock sighed, ignoring his protests. "Yvonne said her Vivillon sewed most of her clothes for her. Ash, you still have your Leavanny, right?" Ash nodded. "Well, you can have Leavanny sew some disguises for us...or you can 'borrow' some of her clothes, and hair dye, if needed."

"No way, I'm not doing it!" Ash pouted.

Brock inched closer to him. "Then I guess you'll be their slave for all of tomorrow..."

Ash gave in after a while. "Okay, fine, I'll do it...Leavanny, come on out." The Nurturing Pokemon emerged from its Poke Ball.

"Leavanny!"

"Leavanny, use String Shot in that bag and grab a few clothes, and maybe some hair dye." Leavanny looked confused until Xavier explained the situation. It then aimed the sticky substance into the bag and yanked out a pile of clothes.

"Thanks," Brock thanked the Grass/Bug type, as he went through the clothes. He separated them into two piles, and then put one pile into Ash's backpack.

"Hey! Why me?" Ash complained.

"This is revenge for not warning me about Bianca." Brock snickered, as Leavanny used String Shot to put back the rest of the clothes that Brock didn't need.

"Speaking of Bianca, we'd better get back!" Xavier reminded them, before they rushed back to the battlefield. Empoleon was standing on top of a felled Emboar.

"Emboar is unable to battle, the winner is - " Yvonne began, before Ash cut in with, "Empoleon and Barry from Twinleaf Town!"

"I knew that!" Yvonne shouted, before Barry pointed at her.

"How do you know me! I've never even seen you around! You'd better start explaining, or I'll fine you!" Barry demanded. Yvonne shrank under his glare and laughed nervously. Ash and Pikachu struggled to hold back laughter at her misfortune, especially as Barry inched closer to her. Brock's Electrode jolted him once again, and Yvonne rushed to him.

"Oh, thank you so much for saving me! How can I ever repay you?" she squealed, as Brock took a step back. _Not again,_ he thought, as Ash and Pikachu let loose laughter.

"Pika Pika!" The Electric type laughed. Bianca and Furret frowned at the scene, before glancing at each other.

The rest of the day went as usual, with Bianca and Barry leading the way and bumping into more people (Misty wondered if Barry did it on purpose), some of whom they knew. The next person they saw was a teal-haired woman with an umbrella and a Marill in her arms.

"One or both of them bump into her in three...two..." Yvonne stated.

"Not on my watch," Brock muttered, grabbing both Barry and Bianca by the shirts. They struggled to get out his grip as the girl slowly approached them.

Ash took a closer look at her. "Isn't that Wilhelmina?"

"Brock tries to flirt with her, I called it..." Misty began, inching closer to him. Croagunk was behind him as well. It let out a croak.

"Brock, Misty, Ash, is that you?" She turned to Brock with a light blush on her face. "Who are your friends?"

Brock was the first to speak up. "Yvonne, Xavier, Barry, and Bianca."

"We could have introduced ourselves," Barry muttered. "Well, at least I could have."

"Nice to meet you all," Wilhelmina stated. "Brock, I heard you graduated from doctoring." Marill jumped out of her arms to play with Misty's Azurill. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks..." Brock's face turned a darker shade of red than Wilhelmina's. He seemed at a loss for words, though that may have been because Croagunk and Misty were just right there. She then turned to Misty, Yvonne, and Bianca. After some more introductions and brief conversations, Wilhelmina brought up the dreaded topic (for the boys, that is): Tomorrow.

"Are any of you going to the Princess Day Festival?" she wondered.

Misty nodded, but the others weren't so sure.

"Well, you don't have to come to a decision immediately. Just know that I'll be there. I look forward to seeing you all again." She scooped up her Marill and turned around before starting to leave. She gave Brock a quick wink, before moving on.

"Electrode?"

"Fen..."

"How the tables have turned," Misty commentated.

"What's it like to be on the receiving end of adoration?" Yvonne teased. Croagunk sat by himself on the fountain, where Surskit was still skating. The rest of the day was uneventful, although it took Misty a few minutes just to get Surskit away. Barry and Bianca had left the group to practice for the PWT, but Brock lent the former a disguise.

Right before bed, Ash told the girls that his mom needed him at home. Brock told them that he was needed at the gym. The two of them wondered what Xavier's excuse was, but didn't think much of it before drifting off to sleep.

~~~ GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

The next day was Princess Day.

Brock woke up before anyone else (Ash always wondered which of them woke up first much of the time). He woke up the other guys, who put on their disguises.

Ash's disguise consisted of a yellow and black blouse similar to his Sinnoh shirt, blue jeans, and red and black boots. His hair was combed down and dyed a dark blue.

Xavier's disguise was a curly black wig, and a green and pink palette swap of his outfit.

Brock wore a red puffy wig with a black blouse, dress and heels.

"There!" Xavier stretched his arms out.

"Wait..." Brock put blue lipstick on Ash's lips. "There!"

"Hey!" Ash complained. "How come you don't get any lipstick?"

"Never mind that, let's go before they wake up," Brock warned.

So they spent the next couple of hours roaming around the streets, while also following Misty and Yvonne without their knowledge.

"I'm bored," Xavier voiced his feelings.

"This is our only option," Brock reminded him, as a few little girls ran to him to admire the Pikachu in his arms. Electrode, who was on the ground in front of him, felt neglected as no one admired it. Both of them had yellow bows on.

"Thank you!" Brock basked in the praise. "I've been with this lovely Pikachu for five years now! My amazing Electrode came soon after!" Just as he said that, Wilhelmina came to the scene. Brock couldn't keep his eyes away from her.

"May I help you?" she questioned them.

"Oh, sorry!" Ash interjected. "Belinda can't help but get jealous of way better looking girls than herself!" Brock glared at him as Wilhelmina giggled.

"Okay. Have you seen Brock and his friends?" the teal-haired woman wanted to know. Of course, they all answered no, stating that they didn't know who they were.

Wilhelmina then waved goodbye at them, before Brock put a dopey smile on his face.

"She called my name!" Brock was lost in his fond thoughts.

"Snap out of it, Belinda!" Ash yelled out, shaking him. "Huh? Oh, right, let's go."

Xavier and Furret kept themselves busy with Pokemon capturing, while Ash and Brock immersed themselves with a few battles.

"I hear you're pretty good," a voice called from behind Ash. It turned out to be Trip, Ash's rival from the Unova region. Ash was surprised he didn't have a disguise, but then again, most of the girls were probably too busy to do anything to him. "You seem surprised to see me. You're not scared, are you?" he taunted.

"No way! My Pokemon and I will burn you to a crisp!" Ash declared, placing Fennekin in front of him. "Let's roast this guy and get it over with!"

"You seem confident you'll beat me," Trip scoffed. "You might be a good fire type specialist..." He threw a Poke Ball. "But let's see how you do against Jellicent!" From the ball came the fat crowned Unova Water/Ghost type. "You make the first move."

"Fennekin, Flamethrower!" Ash commanded, as the fire type released flames from both of its ears at Jellicent. Trip just scoffed as he had Jellicent put out the flames with Brine.

"Jellicent, wrap it." Its tentacles were about to wrap around it, when Ash had Fennekin use Roar to force its opponent back into its ball. Trip said nothing as his Pokemon was replaced with Conkeldurr.

"Conkeldurr, Bulk Up." Trip's Conkeldurr flexed its muscles as an orange aura flared around it.

"Flamethrower again!" Ash called, as Fennekin's ears released hot flames at Conkeldurr, who simply swatted them away with his concrete pillars.

"Stone Edge." A ring of white orbs appeared in front of the Fighting type, eventually becoming pointed stones, which launched towards Fennekin.

"Use those as stepping stones for a quick attack!" Ash raised a fist as Fennekin jumped on each stone. It didn't seem to be getting any closer to Conkeldurr. Eventually, it got so exhausted that it was unable to dodge an incoming pointed stone, crashing to the ground.

"Bet you wish you never used that move." Trip sneered, as Conkeldurr placed its beams on the ground, before jumping on them. It then jumped high into the air, its fists glowing a deep red, before they exploded in a red-orange energy. Ash seemed to be in a tight spot, but then "she" looked at the crowd and saw a familiar face in the crowd. It was a blue-haired girl with a white and pink beanie, a red scarf, a black blouse attached to a pink dress, and boots that matched her dress. His mind drifted for a brief moment...

_"Iron Tail!"_

_"Flamethrower!"_

_It's Dawn...! _Ash thought.

In the present, Ash had just thought up a plan. It was risky, but there weren't many other options. If a fire attack could do more damage to a Pokemon whose body part took on the properties of steel, then psychic attacks should have been able to do the same with fighting typed attacks (not to mention that Conkeldurr was a fighting-type already).

"Use Extrasensory on his hand!" Ash instructed, as Fennekin unleashed a circular rainbow beam with white crescents around it, hitting Conkeldurr's red fist, forcing it to halt its attack. Just before the red glow disappeared, Fennekin hit its other hand with Extrasensory, doing some major damage to it.

"Fennekin, come back, I'll need you for later!" Ash yelled, and Fennekin rushed to her side. Ash then threw another Poke Ball. "Quilava, into the light!" He cried loudly. The Volcano Pokemon materialized from the Poke Ball and in front of Conkeldurr. In the crowd, a smiling Dawn sent out her own Quilava to watch the battle.

"Conkeldurr, Bulk Up." Once again, its body glowed orange as it flexed its muscles.

"Quilava, use Flamethrower!" Ash called, as Quilava's back flared up, and it released a Flamethrower from its mouth.

Trip didn't seem the least bit amused as Conkeldurr swatted the flames away. Ash had the Fire type use Smokescreen to cover the battlefield in black smoke.

"That's the way, Allison!" A high pitched voice shouted. Ash couldn't really make out her features through the smoke, but her brunette hair which was in two braids and her cheek blushes could be made out. It was Macy, one of the Johto League competitors.

"Get the smoke away with your pillars," Trip commanded, and Conkeldurr did as he was told before the smoke entered his clown nose. "Stone Edge again."

Sharp stones appeared around Conkeldurr and launched at Quilava, but Ash had the perfect plan. "Use Agility!" Quilava relaxed its body and zipped around the attack, its speed increasing for each stone it dodged.

"Smokescreen again!" Quilava quickly spat smoke from its mouth and covered the battlefield again. As expected, Conkeldurr blew the smoke away, getting rid of it, but Quilava was nowhere to be found, which confused Trip.

"Unleash Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted, tasting victory, as Quilava emerged from above, a thin white aura around it, and rammed into Conkeldurr, sending it flying skyward (despite the fighting type having raised its defenses). Before Trip could even say anything, Quilava jumped into the air below its opponent and expanded its back flames, engulfing Conkeldurr in fire. Quilava came back to its side as Conkeldurr fell to the ground. Unfortunately, its weight caused the stones on Ash's side to fly up, before some crashed down towards Quilava.

"Quilava, no!" Ash shouted, having not expected that to happen.

"That's one point for Allison!" Macy announced over the cheering crowd, as Trip recalled his Conkeldurr and sent out Jellicent.

"Quilava, I might need you for later," Ash told it, before it was recalled. "Torkoal, to the light!" The fire turtle Pokemon was sent out against Jellicent.

"Doesn't look that strong. Jellicent, Hydro Pump, and make it quick." Trip didn't hear Ash command Sunny Day during his command, so he was more than shocked when Torkoal was able to take the attack head on. He was even more surprised when it immediately launched a Solar Beam that overpowered the Water Type attack and hit it for massive damage.

"Shadow Ball." Jellicent formed a dark orb in front of it and launched it at Torkoal, who spun to dodge it.

"Rain Dance," Trip said, eliciting a groan from the audience (except for Wilhelmina, who had an umbrella). Dawn was complaining about her hair. Trip didn't seem to care about any of their complaints.

"Now, Hydro Pump." Jellicent's attack of choice was many times bigger and stronger than last time.

"Dodge it with Gyro Ball!" Ash shouted, as it retracted its limbs, cloaked its shell in steel, and avoided the blast of water. It maneuvered behind Jellicent and aimed for its back, but missed by mere inches. It landed on the ground in an inverted position.

"Don't give in, Torkoal!" Macy piped, and Ash thought of the Johto League...

_"Hydro Pump!"_

"Overheat!" Ash's Torkoal glowed a bright red as it spun upside down and released a large burst of spiraling flames at Jellicent, covering it. When the flames disappeared, Jellicent was charred and sent it crashing to the ground in defeat, unable to hold on for much longer. Torkoal "hopped" while still retracted into its shell, and was about to land on the wet ground. Ash frantically yelled out for Sunny Day, which Torkoal initiated, but most of the water hadn't evaporated by the time the Pokemon actually landed, so it took a lot of damage from the super-effective type.

"You're not _half_ bad." Trip looked at his adversary in amusement. "But let's see how you do against...Serperior!" The regal grass snake came out, poised and ready for battle. It looked down on Ash and Torkoal.

"Serperior..." Unova League flashbacks ran through Ash's mind (NOTE: In my story, Ash and Trip got a full battle that wasn't a **1-on-1**, or poorly written with a DEM ending.).

"Serperior, Leer." Just like the name said, Serperior leered at it, but Torkoal exhaled more white smoke from its nose to cover its body.

"Awesome, White Smoke!" Ash cheered to himself, knowing that Leer was now useless. On his command, Torkoal used another Overheat. Normally, Overheat would be weaker each time, but with Sunny Day up, the nerf was barely noticeable.

"Serperior, dodge," Trip commanded, as Serperior slithered its long body around the attack, making Torkoal's special attack decrease for nothing.

"Gyro Ball!" Torkoal put its limbs in and spun towards Serperior, who just stood there. "It's gonna hit! Almost - "

"Dodge."

Somehow, Trip's Pokemon managed to dodge when it was just mere inches away. "Solar Beam."

"Use Flamethrower below Solar Beam!" Overheat was more powerful, but Torkoal would be able to aim Flamethrower better without conserving extra energy. As Serperior unleashed a beam of solar energy, Torkoal spat out a noticeably weaker burst of flames under the beam. Serperior tried to move its body, but it couldn't slither and aim at the same time, so it was forced to take the fire attack, but its own attack had taken out Torkoal. Serperior didn't get out unharmed; in addition to Overheat, it had sustained a burn. However, it still stood proudly.

Ash replaced Torkoal with Fennekin, who didn't seem too sure of her chances of winning.

"Serperior, it uses fire attacks from its mouth and ears, so watch out," warned Trip. The next couple of minutes saw Serperior avoiding Extrasensorys and fire attacks until Fennekin finally got so tired that it was forced to take a Solar Beam, which took it down for the count. It was not unlike Torkoal's defeat. Ash picked the fire starter up, placed it to the side, and then congratulated it on a job well done, before gripping a Poke Ball.

Ash sent out Quilava. "I'm counting on you!"

Trip commanded a Solar Beam, which Quilava dodged using Agility.

_Forgot all about Agility, better wrap this up before it catches up..._ Trip thought. "Wrap that Quilava." Serperior slid towards Quilava and attempted to wrap it, but its burn got the better of it. Before it could act, Quilava unleashed a Flamethrower at it. It did some damage, but still didn't take it down.

"Use Flamethrower one more time!" Ash screamed, as Quilava attempted another one, but Solar Beam collided with it. At the same time, the effects of Sunny Day wore off, weakening both attacks. Despite their weakened forms, they were still strong enough to cause a thick explosion.

"Smokescreen!" Quilava released a thick cloud of smoke to make it hard for anyone to see. "Now, Quilava, listen for Serperior and use Aerial Ace." The smoke showed no signs of clearing anytime soon, so Quilava twisted around and used Aerial Ace, charging at Serperior, whose tail glowed a light blue. Dragon Tail and Aerial Ace collided, and the two fighters fought for victory. Eventually, they both keeled over, Quilava due to exhaustion from its previous battle with Conkeldurr, and Serperior due to its burn. The smoke finally cleared, and everyone saw the two Pokemon on the ground.

"Looks like it's a tie!" Trip announced, recalling his starter Pokemon. He wouldn't admit it, but his opponent had actually put up a good fight. "Hey." Ash, who had just picked up Fennekin, turned to him. "You'd better be at the PWT, where I can beat you, and then take on Alder." With that, he headed off.

_He hasn't changed much,_ Ash thought, heading to the Pokemon Center. He stopped for a few seconds to watch Brock and Gary facing each other, shaking hands.

"Good battle," Brock told Gary. Ash wished he had gotten to see it, but he was sure Gary won (though he secretly hoped Brock was the winner).

"Thanks, you too, Brock. Later!" Gary smirked as he went inside of his limousine and drive off.

"What did he call you?" a nearby girl questioned, ad Brock's face turned pale. Luckily, Brock improvised on the spot, shook his fist in the air, and yelled out, "It's Belinda! Get my name right!" Brock and Ash then went to the Pokemon Center together.

~~~ GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

Xavier had just caught six Pokemon, with a Spinarak being the last one he caught. Furret had actually managed to take on all six of them in a row, but it still took a toll on it. He thought of having Faiaro fly him to the Pokemon Center, but Misty and Yvonne would know it was him. Not only that, but it was on lookout with Brock's Crobat (he had lent his Shishiko to Ash)! So he had no choice but to go on foot...

A few minutes later, he had arrived at the Pokemon Center, where he made a few deposits, and met up with Ash and Brock.

"Anyone notice you two yet?" He was curious.

"Only Gary, but he's gone," Brock answered. "Only a couple more hours until we can get to sleep. What now...hey, what's that noise outside?" They looked out the windows to see a bunch of disgruntled girls, including Misty and Yvonne.

"This has been the worst Princess Day ever!" one woman complained.

Another female took out a doll with an almost detached arm. "These dolls are a ripoff! They're not even authentic!"

"We've been waiting all day for an event to happen, and they're still not ready!"

"This is so lame, I'm going back to Hoenn!"

"My sisters' hand-me-downs were even better!" That was Misty's voice.

"Vivillon can make better clothes with its strings knotted!" They recognized Yvonne's voice.

Many of the girls either kept shouting, or left when their complaints weren't addressed.

"Well, that's a load off our minds," Brock told them, as the three of them exited the Pokemon Center. They went back into the area where Xavier was catching Pokemon and called Crobat and Faiaro back to them. They then assigned Pokemon back to their rightful owners, took off their disguises (Ash changed into his Sinnoh outfit this time), and went back to the front of the Pokemon Center. Then, Ash remembered something.

"Dawn!" he shouted, a little loudly, before bubbles hit him on the back of the neck. He jolted around to see a smiling Dawn and Piplup.

"Did ya miss me?" Dawn looked at Ash with her bright blue eyes.

"Dawn! You're here!" Ash cried. "How was Johto?"

"It was great!" Dawn answered, turning to Brock. "Brock, I know you can see me."

"Sorry, but I didn't want to interrupt anything," Brock replied.

"Just what are you implying?!" Dawn yelled at him, before calmly turning to Ash.

"So, did you win the grand prize?" Ash wanted to know.

"Careful, you wouldn't want May to know you were rooting for me over her, would you?" Dawn teased him.

"May? She's here?" Ash looked around.

"I meant we fought each other, silly!" Dawn giggled. "And to answer your question, we tied, meaning both of us technically split the first place trophy."

Ash was glad that two of his friends achieved their dreams of being Top Coordinators, but at the same time, felt sad that he had yet to achieve his own goal.

Misty looked shocked to see the three boys. "You're back already?"

Ash laughed. "Turns out my mom had more than enough support with Tracey and the others."

"Brock?" Yvonne turned to the Breeder/Doctor.

"Yes?" Brock answered sweetly, and the rest of them broke into laughter. Afterwards, introductions were made, and so was a rotation on Ash's Pokedex.

"Dawn, how's my old Ambipom?" Ash wondered (NOTE: Ambipom never left to play pingpong).

"Great! Wanna see her again?" Dawn held a Poke Ball in anticipation.

Ash also held a Poke Ball. "Only if you'd like to see...Buizel!" Ash instantly tossed his Poke Ball in the air, as did Dawn. It was almost like she had read his mind. Both Ambipom and Buizel emerged from their Poke Balls facing each other. Ambipom used both of her tail hands to steal both Ash and Dawn's hats. Ash let a wave of nostalgia wash over him as memories of Aipom came back to him.

"Looks like she's still attached to you, Ash." Dawn gushed.

"I can tell Buizel feels the same," Ash commented, as they faced Buizel, who folded his arms and faced away from Dawn.

"So what do you say, Ash? Buizel? Ambipom? Wanna trade back?" Dawn waited for their answers. Buizel kept the same stoic expression, while Ash and Ambipom immediately agreed. They went into the Pokemon Center and got their Pokemon healed before going to the trade machine. Dawn placed her Ambipom's ball into its slot, and Ash did the same with Buizel's. Everyone watched as the trade was initiated.

"I'm gonna miss that little guy," Misty admitted, as the trade was finished.

Ash held his Ambipom's ball and yelled, "All right! I just got back...my Ambipom!"

"And I got Buizel!"

"Pikachu!"

"Piplup!"

"So, Dawn, what are you going to do now?" Misty turned to her.

Dawn thought for a while. "Well, May said she'd support her brother in the Pokemon World Tournament, so I thought I'd wait for her so I can do the same. I'm even considering entering it myself, just for the fun of it!"

"Why don't you travel with us again? It'll be fun," Brock offered.

"Well, I do miss traveling with you guys," Dawn mused. "It's settled! Come on, let's go!"

"I'll be there in a minute, I just have to do something," Yvonne called to the rest of them, before turning on a nearby videophone. On the screen came Professor Violet.

"Yvonne, dear. Did you manage to get the starters like I asked?" the old woman inquired.

"Sorry, but no. They all came to the trio I told you about. But I did find something else interesting," she transferred a Poke Ball to the old lady, who opened it and revealed a panda with a leaf in its mouth. Sparkles glittered all around it.

"An off-color Pancham! This is even better!" Professor Violet squealed, but Yvonne cut her celebration short with, "That's not all." She then showed a picture to the professor, who looked on in curiosity.

"Don't they make a great couple?" Yvonne inquired.

"Yes...but never mind that. Yvonne, I've now given you a new assignment. I want you to capture them for me," Professor Violet requested. "While they may not be particularly strong, they'd still be good for my collection."

"Yes, ma'am, I won't fail you," Yvonne answered. "By the way, did you remember to give the Kalos region data to Professor Oak?"

The videophone immediately cut off.

"Okay, then," Yvonne muttered to herself, as she exited the Pokemon Center and caught up with her friends.

~~~GOTTA CATCH EM ALL!~~~

CREDITS

Pokemon: Back to Basics

Creator: marioluigifan05

Theme Song: Jason Paige

4Kids Entertainment

Voices

Ash: Veronica Taylor

Brock: Eric Stuart

Professor Violet: Kayzie Rogers

Gary: Jimmy Zoppi

Bianca: Bella Hudson

Barry: Jamie McGonnigal

Misty: Rachael Lillis

Dawn: Emily Bauer

Wilhelmina: Amy Birnbaum

Trip: Jamie McGonnigal

Yvonne: Rachael Lillis

Xavier: Jason Griffith

Pikachu: Ikue Otani


End file.
